Dr. Herbert A. Cruz

Herbert A. Cruz, M.D.
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Herbert A. Cruz, M.D.Dr. Cruz was born and raised in New York City, Dr. Cruz received his Baccalaureate from the University of San Francisco with a Major in Biology and minor in Theology and Philosophy.He attended Michigan State University, College of Human Medicine and did residency training in Family Practice (in Flint, Michigan) and Psychiatry (U.C.S.F.-Fresno).He has served as Medical Director for Kings County, directed a rural mental health clinic in Pasco, Washington, and is currently the Mental Health Medical Director for Tulare County.The bulk of his professional career has been spent in the Central Valley of California, serving populations in Madera, Mariposa, Kings, Fresno, and Tulare counties..Dr. Cruz has managed consumers in the areas of dual diagnosis (he is Board Certified in both Addiction and General Psychiatry), child and adolescent care, the forensic setting, outpatient and inpatient care, and telepsychiatry.He is bilingual in Spanish and English, with a special interest in ethnopsychopharmacology.He has lectured extensively in this area.His personal interests include motorcycles, jet skiing, water-skiing, and snow skiing, keeping in mind that old bones heal slowly.

Those concerns were just what the county wanted to hear, said Dr. Herbert Cruz, Tulare County's mental health medical director.

That's because the county is trying to find a way to better serve the unserved and underserved

populations in Tulare County as required by the Mental Health Services Act.The act, passed by voters in 2004, will provide money to support prevention services to help children, adults and make sure seniors get care before a mental illness becomes disabling.

After more meetings are conducted throughout the county, county health officials will early next year apply for $3 million to $7 million of that money to serve the underserved and unserved populations in Tulare County, Cruz said.

Traditionally, African Americans have been among those populations in Tulare County that have had problems getting mental health needs served, he said.

Some of the things that have traditionally kept African Americans from accessing mental health services in Tulare County have been cultural differences, socioeconomic barriers and access issues.

For example, many African Americans live in areas of the county such as Allensworth or Earlimart, which makes it hard for them to access county services in Visalia and Tulare, Cruz said.