California: Department of Public Health's Tierney Jumps to San Francisco AIDS Foundation

San Francisco's director of HIV prevention for the past five years, Steven Tierney, is resigning his position to become deputy director of programs and services for San Francisco AIDS Foundation. His new job begins Dec. 1. SFAF's former program and service director, Renee Durazzo, departed in September after serving SFAF for 11 years.

"It feels like a good time to help the government have as an aggressive agenda on HIV health care as I would like it to have," said Tierney, who is ending his Department of Public Health (DPH) tenure amid reports of declining HIV rates in the city. "There are important issues ahead with the state and federal budgets, as well as tackling substance abuse and mental health issues in gay men, and I feel outside leadership and pressure might help with those things more efficiently."

Organization officials said they are positioning Tierney to manage an innovative overhaul of SFAF's prevention programs. While SFAF's needle exchange programs and its prevention work with African Americans are making an impact, the agency should be doing more to help stop HIV's spread, said SFAF Director Mark Cloutier.

During his tenure at DPH, Tierney said he is most proud of helping Magnet, a gay men's health clinic, open in the Castro and of working with community leaders and residents to provide transitional housing to homeless youths. He helped the city initiate prevention programs for HIV-positives and meth users and launch outreach efforts in the underserved Bayview and Vistacion Valley communities.

Tracey Parker, who has worked at DPH for 15 years, most recently as manager of health education and community planning, will serve as the city's interim director of HIV prevention, said Tierney.

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