Nearly four months after Veerinder 鈥淰inny鈥� Taneja鈥檚 sudden , Tarrant County has a new director.
On June 4, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court voted unanimously to appoint Dr. William Brian Byrd, 53, to the role. Precinct 4 County Commissioner Manny Ramirez was not in attendance but expressed support for Byrd in a statement.
Byrd is a practicing physician who founded Texas Family Medicine, which was acquired by in June 2023. He currently serves as medical director for Palm Primary Care and will continue to see patients part time on Friday mornings.
As public health director, Byrd will oversee the department鈥檚 , which include family health programs, immunization, and disease control and prevention. The county set his annual salary at $250,000.
鈥淚 would note that Dr. Byrd is a competent physician with a reputable professional standing,鈥� Precinct 1 County Commissioner Roy Charles Brooks said at the June 4 meeting. 鈥淚 am thrilled that he sees leadership of our public health authority to be his next adventure in life, and a mission to which he will dedicate his time, talent and service.鈥�
Byrd expressed his gratitude to the commissioners court and shared his goals for the public health department.
鈥淚t feels good to get back into public service after a few years hiatus,鈥� Byrd said. 鈥淲e, as a department, will continue to be a listening organization that listens to all stakeholders, listens to leaders in the health departments, and leaders in Tarrant County. We will work very diligently to carry out the mission of the organization.鈥�
Byrd as a Fort Worth City Council member, representing parts of west and southwest Fort Worth from 2017 to 2021. He left council that year following an . In early 2022, Byrd became one of hired by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram to contribute monthly columns on local issues.
Over the past two years, Byrd has written about everything from the and to in Fort Worth and the state鈥檚 fight against . His most recent column, on , published June 1.
In a , Byrd urged former Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price to support now-County Judge Tim O鈥橦are following Price鈥檚 loss to O鈥橦are in the Republican primary.
鈥淭arrant is the most populous county in the country that is still red, and I鈥檇 like it to stay that way,鈥� Byrd wrote.
When U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth, announced her retirement last year, Byrd he 鈥渨as taking a look鈥� at running for the seat. Byrd ultimately did not enter the Republican primary.
The appointment comes after Taneja stepped down as director of the public health department at the beginning of February, a role he had served in since September 2014.
On Feb. 2, County Administrator Chandler Merritt sent Taneja a termination notice laying out three issues that, he wrote, 鈥渃reated an irreparable level of distrust in your ability to satisfactorily perform the duties of your position.鈥�
Merritt鈥檚 allegations against Taneja pertained to HIV tracing policy revisions, COVID-19 testing contracts, and staff complaints in an internal human resources report. He cited six violations of the civil service rules and placed Taneja on administrative leave pending a final decision.
Taneja in a Feb. 3 letter and questioned why Merritt jumped to possible termination when Taneja had never been subject to discipline before.
If the county was unwilling to let him stay, Taneja asked they reconsider putting a formal termination on his personnel record and instead let him resign after he found another job.
Two days after Taneja sent the letter to Merritt, the the HR report referenced in the termination notice. A day later, Taneja submitted a resignation letter, where he said he left the county in good standing.
Taneja was temporarily replaced by Deputy County Administrator Tom Stallings, who has more than two decades of experience with federal, state and local health care policy. Stallings served as interim director until a full-time director was named.
Byrd will begin his tenure July 1.
Editor鈥檚 note: This story was updated at 4:42 p.m. June 4 to clarify Veerinder 鈥淰inny鈥� Taneja resigned at the beginning of February.
David Moreno is the health reporter for the Fort Worth Report. His position is supported by a grant from Texas Health Resources. Contact him at david.moreno@fortworthreport.org or on X.
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