SPLIT NEEDED — House Health Committee Vice Chairwoman Heather Tully said HB 2006 was needed to reform DHHR and make improvements to state health outcomes. -- Photo Courtesy/WV Legislative Photography

CHARLESTON — Members of the House Health and Human Resources Committee dived into their version of a bill that would split the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources into three new departments.  

The House Health Committee, meeting Tuesday, recommended for passage an amended version of House Bill 2006, reorganizing DHHR, sending the bill to the House Finance Committee for review. The bill was approved by voice vote with no opposition.  

“There may have been issues with DHHR for a number of years that proceeded this administration … but what has become clear is we become complicit with that if we do not facilitate some change and take steps towards meaningful outcomes for those impacted by the decisions we make here,” said House Health Committee Vice Chairwoman Heather Tully, R-Nicholas.  

“We all agree there is a problem,” said House Health Committee Minority Chairman Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha. “We’re getting very poor health outcomes in West Virginia to say the least. I think this is a good first step. I think there are some real culture problems inside the department.”  

If passed and signed into law by Gov. Jim Justice, HB 2006 would split DHHR into a Department of Human Services, a Department of Health, and a Department of Health Facilities effective Dec. 1 of this year.  

HB 2006 is similar to Senate Bill 126, passed 32-1 by the state Senate on the first day of the 2023 legislative session, that would split DHHR into three new departments.  

The Department of Human Services would oversee the Bureau of Social Services, the Bureau of Medical Services, the Bureau of Child Support Enforcement, the Bureau of Family Assistance, the Bureau of Behavioral Health, and the Office of Drug Control Policy.  

The Department of Health would oversee the Bureau of Public Health, the Office of Emergency Medical Services and EMS Advisory Board, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the Office of Threat Preparedness, the Office of Inspector General, and the Health Care Authority.  

The Department of Health Facilities would oversee state-owned hospitals: Hopemont Hospital in Terra Alta, Jackie Withrow Hospital in Beckley, John Manchin Sr. Health Care Center in Fairmont, Lakin Hospital in West Columbia, Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital in Huntington, Welch Community Hospital, and William R. Sharpe Hospital in Weston. The bill requires the new department secretary to submit a plan to the Legislature by January 2024 for the long-term sustainability for each healthcare facility.  

The bill requires the governor to appoint the new department secretaries by Dec. 1, with the placement of other bureaus, offices, and boards to be determined by the new secretaries by Sept. 1 with the new departments operating by Dec. 1. Each secretary would be appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the state Senate.  

The Office of Chief Operating Officer — which oversees human resources, finances, information technology, administrative services, and communications with constituents — would serve all three departments with administrative support. The COO would work with Department of Administration to consolidate services between the three departments by June 30, 2024.  

The Office of Inspector General would also receive more autonomy thanks to a committee amendment to HB 2006. The Inspector General would be appointed by the governor and serve a five-year term and would be eligible to serve up to two terms. The Inspector General would be appointed by the governor, attorney general, and state auditor with advice and consent of Senate. The new departments are required to cooperate with the Inspector General.  

The Office of Inspector General would oversee the Office of Health Facility Licensure and Certification, the Board of Review, the Foster Care Ombudsman, the Olmstead Office, Investigation and Fraud Management, Quality Control, the West Clearance for Access: the Registry and Employment Screening. 

Tuesday’s strike-and-insert amendment from the committee would also add the Mental Health Ombudsman, the Long-Term Care Ombudsman, and the Human Rights Commission.  

The Legislature passed a bill last year to split DHHR into two departments, but Justice vetoed that bill, choosing instead to call for a third-party study of the department.   

“This is about three years in the making,” said Del. Matthew Rohrbach, R-Cabell, who chaired the House Health Committee last year and sponsored last year’s DHHR-split bill. “We all hear from our constituents the inefficiencies in the various components of DHHR … I would contend to you that an agency that is this large is far too large for any one individual to have their hands around.”  

DHHR commissioned the McChrystal Group, a Virginia-based consultancy firm, to conduct a $1 million organizational assessment and strategic plan for DHHR. The McChrystal report recommended that DHHR develop action plans to implement department-wide objectives, establish three new deputy secretary positions, create new integration teams to coordinate efforts between the department’s many bureaus, improve communication, and put more emphasis on administrative process improvements.  

Since the McCrystal group report was released in November, DHHR has already created two of three new deputy secretary positions and consolidated other services under a new COO. Bill Crouch, DHHR’s cabinet secretary since Justice took office in 2017, retired.  

Justice appointed Dr. Jeffrey Coben, the associate vice president for health affairs at West Virginia University and Dean of the School of Public Health, as interim DHHR secretary. Dr. Clay Marsh, chancellor and executive dean for Health Sciences at WVU, and James Hoyer, a WVU senior associate vice president, will also serve as advisers to Justice and DHHR as it searches for a new permanent cabinet secretary.  

Coben, who was present for Tuesday’s committee meeting, declined to comment on the bill, directing press to schedule an interview with DHHR’s communications director.