Long Beach : Health and Human Services Director Appointed
Diana M. Bonta will take over as director of the Long Beach Health and Human Services Department on Oct. 10. In her new job, the 37-year-old Bonta, a doctoral candidate at UCLA, will earn $85,500. She replaces Dr. Rugmini Shah, the city’s health officer since 1978 whose resignation was announced in February.
For the past five years, Bonta has been deputy executive director for two affiliated family-planning agencies, the California Family Planning Council, which provides statewide services, and the Los Angeles Regional Family Planning Council, which serves the greater Los Angeles area.
Bonta holds a nursing degree from the State University of New York and a master’s degree in public health from UCLA. She is studying for a doctorate in population and family health.
A resident of Los Angeles, Bonta is married to Frank Matricardi and has a daughter, 10, and a son, 7.
Long Beach is one of only three cities in the state that have health and human services departments. The others are Pasadena and Berkeley. Bonta will oversee 157 employees and a budget this year of $11.5 million.
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