Less than three hours after Santa Cruz County unveiled for the public the first look at this year’s budget on Friday—which among other things calls for laying off 74.40 full time equivalent positions and a budget reduction of $8.98 million to the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency—that agency’s director, Mónica Morales, announced her departure.
In a press release, Morales said she is leaving “to pursue opportunities elsewhere.”
The Watsonville native returned to the county in 2021, and during her tenure she was part of the group that saved Watsonville Community Hospital from bankruptcy. She also expanded mental health services through the construction of the Children’s Crisis Stabilization Center and establishment of the Children and Youth Behavioral Health Consortium, county spokesman Jason Hoppin said.
She also launched 24/7 mobile crisis response teams.
“Returning to my hometown over the past three-and-a-half years to help improve health outcomes for all county residents has been an immensely rewarding experience,” Morales said in a statement. “I’ve decided to pursue new opportunities in order to be closer to my family. I will always cherish my time here and the partnerships we helped build.”
The Health Services Agency serves as a community safety net by providing a broad spectrum of services that address and promote health and equity, including meeting basic needs of health care for low-income and uninsured residents.
County Chief Executive Officer Carlos Palacios said Morales has been a “powerful health care advocate and helped oversee crucial improvements to our system of care benefiting all County residents.”
“We will miss her greatly,” he said.
Her last day will be June 3. She will stay for the county budget hearings in early June.
The County will launch a national search for a new director and is expected to name an acting director soon.
The announcement comes as county officials gird themselves for budget hearings that will certainly be fraught with grim news, as ongoing cuts to social services by the Trump administration—among other areas that are being slashed—will affect every aspect of life.
Already, the county has lost two federal public health grants worth $408,000, which funded nearly six full time equivalent health services positions. While county officials saved those positions by using other public health funding sources, that will likely not be as easy in the future.
