Apr. 27—MORGANTOWN — Following the governor's veto of the bill to split the Department of Health and Human Resources in two, the Legislature has begun its work to make another go at reorganizing the agency.
The Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability heard different perspectives on the problem during a two-hour meeting on the issue on Tuesday—the final day of April interims.
"DHHR's not broken, " said Secretary Bill Crouch. But if something is said often enough, it can become true. But, he said, "We can improve we can get better."
On the other hand, retired Delegate Don Perdue, who served as House Health Committee chair, said he presided over several failed attempts to split DHHR, the last in 2012. None of the secretaries during those years supported those efforts.
Since then, he said, "The past 10 years have yielded no real progress and often real failures."
DHHR, he said, is top heavy, over-centralized, and run by a "Band-Aid bureaucracy " taking a "whack-a-mole approach " to solving problems.
In his veto of HB 4020, Gov. Jim Justice said he will engage national experts to do full review of DHHR. The agency announced on Monday that the Request For Proposals has been posted and bids are due by May 6.
Crouch told the committee, "Regardless of what that recommendation is, I'm supportive." The goal is to improve services.
House Health attorney Charlie Roskovensky gave a brief overview of prior efforts to restructure DHHR. The agency came into being in 1989 when two departments were merged: Health and Human Services.
A 2012 review under Gov. Tomblin yielded 78 recommendations. "The Legislature took those recommendations and completely disregarded them, " he said. Various bills after that attempted various tweaks. A 2017 bill made DHHR bigger by adding the Office of Drug Control Policy. Apart from that nothing happened.
Crouch said DHHR has well-qualified employees and leaders. It has six bureaus, three offices, support services and various boards and commissions along with a Center for Threat Preparedeness.
DHHR has more than 800 vacancies, he said, not counting 600 state health facility vacancies that are filled by staffing agencies. And agency nurses make several times the pay of state nurses. "We've learned we cannot compete with staffing agencies."
DHHR has a large number of accounting vacancies, he said, which means those offices often have trouble paying bills. And while they are working to recruit CPS workers, they still don't have enough.
"In certain instances, not having an adequate staff has been a huge part of the problem, " he said. "We have to fix this turnover problem."
Majority Leader Amy Summers, R-Taylor, pressed Crouch several times about what DHHR can do to fill the vacancies. He mentioned raises a couple times, along with good benefits, and then said they are working to come up with a plan. "I believe government should get the cream of the crop."
Poor middle management is another issue, he said. Management is a skill and people shouldn't simply get promoted into the job because of seniority. Local offices with good managers see less turnover than the others. So DHHR needs better middle managers who are trained better to manage their staffs.
Justice's Chief of Staff Brian Abraham spoke briefly about the RFP for a consultant. He said it will actually take the form of an RFQ — Request for Quote — so they can negotiate the cost and not be confined to the low bid.
Justice was aware of DHHR issues, he said, but following the passage and veto of HB 4020, "I think he's sharpened his focus on that."
Abraham said the report must be completed within 120 days of the awarding of the contract so the review process isn't drawn out and languish over years.
In response to a question, he said he thinks the report could be ready for committee — and public — review by November interims. "This is going to be, at the end of the day, a public product."
Tweet @dbeardtdp MORGANTOWN — Following the governor's veto of the bill to split the Department of Health and Human Resources in two, the Legislature has begun its work to make another go at reorganizing the agency.
The Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability heard different perspectives on the problem during a two-hour meeting on the issue on Tuesday—the final day of April interims.
"DHHR's not broken, " said Secretary Bill Crouch. But if something is said often enough, it can become true. But, he said, "We can improve we can get better."
On the other hand, retired Delegate Don Perdue, who served as House Health Committee chair, said he presided over several failed attempts to split DHHR, the last in 2012. None of the secretaries during those years supported those efforts.
Since then, he said, "The past 10 years have yielded no real progress and often real failures."
DHHR, he said, is top heavy, over-centralized, and run by a "Band-Aid bureaucracy " taking a "whack-a-mole approach " to solving problems.
In his veto of HB 4020, Gov. Jim Justice said he will engage national experts to do full review of DHHR. The agency announced on Monday that the Request For Proposals has been posted and bids are due by May 6.
Crouch told the committee, "Regardless of what that recommendation is, I'm supportive." The goal is to improve services.
House Health attorney Charlie Roskovensky gave a brief overview of prior efforts to restructure DHHR. The agency came into being in 1989 when two departments were merged: Health and Human Services.
A 2012 review under Gov. Tomblin yielded 78 recommendations. "The Legislature took those recommendations and completely disregarded them, " he said. Various bills after that attempted various tweaks. A 2017 bill made DHHR bigger by adding the Office of Drug Control Policy. Apart from that nothing happened.
Crouch said DHHR has well-qualified employees and leaders. It has six bureaus, three offices, support services and various boards and commissions along with a Center for Threat Preparedeness.
DHHR has more than 800 vacancies, he said, not counting 600 state health facility vacancies that are filled by staffing agencies. And agency nurses make several times the pay of state nurses. "We've learned we cannot compete with staffing agencies."
DHHR has a large number of accounting vacancies, he said, which means those offices often have trouble paying bills. And while they are working to recruit CPS workers, they still don't have enough.
"In certain instances, not having an adequate staff has been a huge part of the problem, " he said. "We have to fix this turnover problem."
Majority Leader Amy Summers, R-Taylor, pressed Crouch several times about what DHHR can do to fill the vacancies. He mentioned raises a couple times, along with good benefits, and then said they are working to come up with a plan. "I believe government should get the cream of the crop."
Poor middle management is another issue, he said. Management is a skill and people shouldn't simply get promoted into the job because of seniority. Local offices with good managers see less turnover than the others. So DHHR needs better middle managers who are trained better to manage their staffs.
Justice's Chief of Staff Brian Abraham spoke briefly about the RFP for a consultant. He said it will actually take the form of an RFQ — Request for Quote — so they can negotiate the cost and not be confined to the low bid.
Justice was aware of DHHR issues, he said, but following the passage and veto of HB 4020, "I think he's sharpened his focus on that."
Abraham said the report must be completed within 120 days of the awarding of the contract so the review process isn't drawn out and languish over years.
In response to a question, he said he thinks the report could be ready for committee — and public — review by November interims. "This is going to be, at the end of the day, a public product."
Tweet David Beard @dbeardtdp Email dbeard @dominionpost.com
