Legislation to divide the state Department of Health and Human Resources into three new agencies is expected to move early in the upcoming legislative session and could set an early tone for the following weeks.
“One bill impacts every other bill. If this passes, then a lot of other legislation, where it talks about Health and Human Resources, those need restructured to say which department it really is. When you pass one thing, it impacts other bills,” said new House Health Committee Chair Amy Summers, R-Taylor.
Summers is spearheading the effort that will create three agencies, the Department of Health, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Health Facilities.
Last year, the Legislature tried to divide DHHR into two agencies, but Gov. Jim Justice vetoed the plan. The new plan adds the third agency tasked with overseeing the seven state-owned facilities — four long-term care facilities, two psychiatric hospitals and a hospital.
“We want to move all those facilities to a separate department with a separate secretary so if we’re going to maintain and keep those facilities, we’re going to have someone who has their eyes on that at all times,” Summers said.
Summers said she believes that with three smaller agencies, each one can have a narrow focus with expert leadership at the top.
“Instead of having one person who knows a little bit about everything, we might be able to get people who have more knowledge in more focused areas,” Summers said.
Discussions regarding the proposal are ongoing among the Republican Caucus in both the House and Senate. Summers anticipates more debate among the caucus when lawmakers gather at the state capital for meetings before the start of the legislative session.
“We’ll see when we come out on Wednesday if we have unity on that,” said Summers.
The 60-day session begins on Jan. 11.
Justice, in response to earlier calls to divide the agency, responded by authorizing an outside, top-to-bottom review by the national consulting firm McChrystal Group.
The consultant’s final report rejected splitting the agency, but did conclude that changes are urgent to knock down silos and improve results.
Asked about DHHR’s performance during a briefing Thursday, Justice defended the agency as making progress.
The governor cited the influence of acting DHHR Secretary Jeffrey Coben, along with advisors Dr. Clay Marsh and Jim Hoyer.
“I don’t know how in the world you’d dispute the very, very best winning experts that you could possibly have. Just think about it. We’re movin’ on a report that was done by a top-notch agency, McChrystal. We’re absolutely moving with Dr. Marsh, General Hoyer, Dr. Coben. There’s absolutely superstars working on this right now.”
The governor said he’ll look at all proposals, including those from his own advisors.
“My goal is to get stuff done. My goal is to do goodness for our people. My goal is not to make a scene,” he said.
“We’ll try to make it better every day. That’s the job. That’s what I try to do.”
