Mr. Rivera was appointed Director of Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System (SLVHCS) in New Orleans, Louisiana, January 11, 2015. With an operating budget of nearly $550 million, SLVHCS employs approximately 2731 employees and serves over 66,466 enrolled Veterans in the 23 parishes of Southeast Louisiana. The health care system provides primary and mental health care at all sites and specialty care at selected sites including eight community based outpatient clinics in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Slidell, Hammond, Bogalusa, Franklin, Houma and St. John Parish as well as a new Veterans Medical Center in New Orleans.  SLVHCS is affiliated with Tulane and LSU medical schools and 20 other academic institutions and was designated as one of nine VA Emerging Centers of Innovation for patient centered care.

Mr. Rivera is also responsible for the activation of a $1 billion replacement VA Medical Center in New Orleans that serves as a model for health care of the future and is setting the standards for patient-centered care, flexibility and sustainability.  The state-of-the-art facility authentically reflects the culture of the region and is the cornerstone for the emerging biosciences industry in Louisiana.  It includes a 200-bed tertiary care regional referral center that is projected to serve 70,000 enrolled Veterans and is designed to meet the full array of VA missions: health care to America's Veterans, medical education, medical research and national emergency preparedness & response.

Mr. Rivera has served Veterans for 32 years with the Department of Veterans Affairs. Immediately prior to his appointment as SLVHCS Director, he was the Director of the VA Capitol Health Care Network (VISN 5) in the national capital region. Mr. Rivera earned a bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and a Master’s of Business Administration Degree from the University of New Orleans