Who We Are

Tim Lutz is the Director for the Department of Health Services. He has over 20 years of public service experience leading social services programs, including more than 12 years of executive management experience. Prior to his appointment with the County, he has served as the Tulare County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) Director, the County Administrative Officer for Calaveras County, the Director of Fiscal Operations for the Tulare County HHSA and as the Executive Director of the Kings/Tulare Area Agency on Aging.

Throughout his career, Lutz has developed and implemented a variety of health programs and services, including behavioral health, human services, public health, primary health Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) look-alike clinics, inmate medical and behavioral health services, and homeless initiative services and housing, among others. He also has extensive experience collaborating and partnering with external stakeholders and community partners to advance health services and shared initiatives.

Cortney Maslyn currently serves as the Deputy Director, Administration for the Department of Health Services. Prior to this role, she was the Deputy Director for the Managed Care Group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Before joining CMS, she held the position of Division Chief for Integrated Systems of Care at the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS), where she led multidisciplinary teams and oversaw programs supporting vulnerable populations, including children with complex medical needs, the Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), and Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS). Earlier in her career at DHCS, Cortney held several leadership roles focused on Medicaid managed care policy development and has extensive experience in policy, budget management, and stakeholder engagement. Her work has emphasized expanding access to care, advancing long-term services and supports, and integrating service delivery across Medicaid initiatives. Cortney holds a Master of Science in Gerontology from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor of Arts from Syracuse University.

Ryan Quist, Ph.D., is the Behavioral Health Director in Sacramento County. His work in Behavioral Health started in Riverside County Behavioral Health where he worked in various roles dedicating more than 20 years to County Behavioral Health.

He remains very active in Statewide advocacy on Behavioral Health topics and was elected by other Behavioral Health Directors as President for the County Behavioral Health Directors Association (CBHDA). He co-chairs the CBHDA Medi-Cal Policy Committee. He was selected to participate in the CalAIM Behavioral Health Stakeholder workgroup and contributed to planning for the various Behavioral Health CalAIM initiatives now being implemented.

In Sacramento County, his focus is on mental health and substance use services for the homeless population, criminal justice population, and bolstering the crisis continuum of care to prevent psychiatric hospitalizations. For children’s services, he is dedicated to promoting field-based and school-based services and collaborating to support the foster youth and probation populations.

Dr. Luu currently serves as the Health Officer and Public Health Division Director. Prior to joining Sacramento County, Dr. Luu served as the Bi-County Health Officer for Yuba County and Sutter County for six and half years. In that role, Dr. Luu was the medical executive providing overall public health clinical guidance, community health planning and emergency preparedness for both counties. She also serves as the medical/health branch lead for all disaster responses and actively engages in the planning and response to all disasters within both counties.

Prior to Yuba-Sutter, Dr. Luu was the Medical Director of Public Health for the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation (CHCC) in Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands where she concurrently served as an internal medicine physician, practicing primary care at the top of her medical license. Prior to that, she was a General Internal Medicine Fellow at Johns Hopkins University for two years.

Dr. Luu is a board-certified internal medicine physician and is a fellow of the American College of Physicians. She obtained her medical degree from the University of Washington and has a Master of Health Science in Clinical Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins University.

Noel Vargas currently serves as the Deputy Director of Primary Health Services for the County of Sacramento, which includes Adult and Juvenile Correctional Health Services, Primary Care Clinic (FQHC), Mobile Medical Clinic, and Pharmacy. Prior to transitioning into his role with the County of Sacramento, he worked for Kaiser Permanente in various managerial roles overseeing specialty clinics such as Dermatology, Mohs Surgery, Surgery Scheduling, Pain Management, and the Memory Center. Prior to joining Kaiser Permanente, Noel spent sixteen years (16) in the public sector as a Child Protective Services Social Worker/Investigator, SSI Advocate, Social Services Supervisor in Employment and Eligibility, and Health Services Manager of the county clinic/call center/mobile medical & dental clinics. Noel has twenty-eight (28) of experience in the non-profit, private, and public sectors and his experience extends to training in the scope of foster care and kinship for various community colleges and UC Davis Extension. Noel currently sits on the Planning Commission for the City of Vacaville, and he is also a member of the Nu Alpha Kappa (NAK) – National Alumni Association (NAA). Noel holds master’s degrees in public administration and organizational Leadership.