Acting Health Care Agency Boss DiLuigi Becomes Latest Defector

The acting director of the county’s Health Care Agency unexpectedly announced his resignation Friday, becoming the third top health official to exit in the last year and raising the possibility that an outsider will be brought in to run the agency.

The agency has come under fire on several fronts, including a highly critical report concluding that county psychiatrists had jeopardized the health of abused and neglected children at the Orangewood Children’s Home by prescribing powerful drugs without recording a supporting diagnosis or keeping accurate charts.

Ronald DiLuigi, who headed the agency since director Tom Uram retired earlier this year, said he is quitting Oct. 2 to take an executive job at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange. The news comes several months after Timothy Mullins, head of the county mental health division, announced his retirement.

DiLuigi’s exit surprised some county officials, who described him as a respected administrator and the front-runner to replace Uram as director.

“This is definitely going to be a period of change at the Health Care Agency,” said Supervisor William G. Steiner. “Ron is a very talented person, and I’m disappointed he is leaving. It’s a loss to the county. But with him now out of the running, we could definitely see someone from outside county government coming in and taking a new look at this agency.”

Sam Roth, a spokesman for the Orange County Medical Assn., described DiLuigi as “very intelligent, with good political acumen and an analytical background.

“Definitely now with Ron’s departure it’s an agency in transition,” he added. “Change can be unsettling but good.”

Roth and others said the departures give the county an opportunity to address the new realities of health care in the 1990s. He said that while the health care industry has gone through a revolution over the last 15 years, the Health Care Agency has not kept up with the changes.

“We’re anxious [to see] where the Board [of Supervisors] and [Chief Executive Officer Jan Mittermeier] want to take the Health Care Agency,” he said.

DiLuigi, 52, said his new job was “just a wonderful opportunity for me to go to work for an organization I just think the world of,” pointing out St. Joseph gives 10% of its profits to services for the poor.

DiLuigi has served in volunteer positions in the St. Joseph health system for the past decade. At present, he is a member of the board of St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, which, along with St. Joseph Hospital and Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, make up the health system.

DiLuigi had been acting director of the health agency for six months. He also held the position for eight months shortly after the county declared bankruptcy.

He said he made the decision to take his new job “with the idea that I’m a solid candidate for the department directorship.”