MARTINEZ – Beth Hernandez, a Contra Costa Health Services project manager who oversaw key parts of the county’s coronavirus pandemic response, has been named Woman of the Year for Contra Costa County by Sen. Bill Dodd.
“I’m proud to recognize Beth, who has made a significant contribution to keeping people safe as we emerge from this pandemic,” said Sen. Dodd, D-Napa. “She’s provided the kind of leadership we need to get us through this crisis and safely reopen our community. I can’t think of a more important responsibility for a public servant.”
“I am very honored to accept this award and want to extend this recognition to all of my amazing women colleagues at Contra Costa Health Services,” said Beth Hernandez. “From administrative support to leadership, from contact tracers to epidemiologists, from the IT department to clinical staff, and everyone in between, we continue to respond to the pandemic through our collective efforts.”
As quality improvement manager in Contra Costa County’s Public Health division, Beth wears a number of hats with regard to fighting the coronavirus. She was instrumental in creating mobile teams for vaccination and worked in the county’s contact tracing unit. Other duties involved safeguarding homeless people and getting them into shelters. She has been with the county since 2017.
She previously worked for five years as a project planner at the Alameda Health Consortium and was a research assistant at UC San Francisco. The Ohio native came to California for an AmeriCorps stint after graduating from Wesleyan University. She went on to get a master’s degree at Cal State East Bay.
Beth was a professional cyclist in training with the U.S. national racing team. She lives in Martinez with her husband and two young children.
Senator Bill Dodd represents the 3rd Senate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Solano, Yolo, Sonoma, Contra Costa, and Sacramento counties. You can learn more about the district and Senator Dodd at www.sen.ca.gov/dodd.
