Beau J. Mitts, MPH
HIV Prevention Activist
Bureau Chief, HIV/STD and Viral Hepatitis Prevention
Houston Health Department
Beau Mitts joined the Houston Health Department in September 2019 as the bureau chief for the Bureau of HIV/STD and Viral Hepatitis Prevention. Beau has been working in the HIV field since 1999, and most recently served as program manager overseeing the Office of HIV Resources of the City and County of Denver Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE).
Before working in Denver, Beau served as the deputy director of business systems in the Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and had been with the agency for more than eight years. In this role, Beau was responsible for serving as the single point of contact with the bureau’s master contractor, overseeing a contract portfolio consisting of more than 400 contracts with more than 150 unique agencies totaling $125 million. Additionally, he oversaw the continued development and maintenance of the data reporting system known as eSHARE which is still used by all bureau contractors. During his time at DOHMH, Beau worked with senior leadership to establish the DOHMH LGBTQ Employee Resource Group and served as co-chair for three years.
Prior to that, Beau served as the director of technical assistance in the Care, Treatment, Housing Program in the Bureau of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH). He also managed the Ryan White Part A Medical Case Management Care Coordination Program, and with the input of providers and stakeholders, shaped that program through many revisions and improvements, including assisting in the development of LGBTQ sensitivity training for providers. One important improvement included collaborating with the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute to determine aspects of the Care Coordination Program that could support and wrap-around the Medicaid Health Homes.
In his previous experience with the Houston Health Department, Beau served as the program manager for the Bureau of HIV/STD and Viral Hepatitis Prevention for four years, where he managed an annual program budget of approximately $5.2 million and assisted with the development of the Houston routine, opt-out HIV screening project as part of the national expansion of HIV testing led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Prior to that, Beau worked with the Harris Health System in Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest public metropolitan health system, to develop quality management activities in the Ryan White Part A and Part C funded HIV Services program as well as to implement a community-wide HIV testing campaign.
His career in HIV began back at the Houston Health Department, a large metropolitan health department serving the nation’s fourth-largest city, where he worked as an HIV epidemiologist investigating new HIV diagnoses. During his time here, Beau also served on the Houston HIV Prevention Community Planning Group and the State of Texas Assembly Group East and enjoyed participating in the community planning process.
Beau received his undergraduate degree in marketing from the University of Oklahoma and his graduate degree in public health from Tulane University. He has enjoyed serving as a team leader for the annual AIDS Walk as well as annual Pride activities, leading the health department participation in these events for the City of Houston, the City of New York and the City and County of Denver. Beau enjoys hiking and is enjoying his reunion with many familiar faces, colleagues, friends and family in Houston.