Department of Health and the Department of Human Resource image.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice has said no to splitting the Department of Health and Human Resources in two.
The governor said that he has vetoed House Bill 4020. That would have divided the administration’s largest agency into the Department of Health and the Department of Human Resources, each with its own commissioner.
“We all want to address and correct the very real issues within DHHR, but before we undertake such a drastic change to an enormous agency that affects the lives of our most vulnerable West Virginians, I believe we need to take a deeper look at every aspect of how this would work,” Justice stated.
Lawmakers of both parties in the Senate and House of Delegates said the split is necessary to get a handle on the agency’s finances as well as its complicated missions of promoting the health of West Virginians, combatting drug addiction issues, supporting the state’s most vulnerable children and more.
Delegates passed the bill 83-11, and senators passed it 32-2.
DHHR Secretary Bill Crouch had warned of complications with splitting the agency’s finances, particularly federal funding. Justice echoed some of those concerns in his explanation of the veto.
“I am committed to making the DHHR better, but we cannot afford to play politics when people’s lives hang in the balance. We need to be certain before we act,” Justice stated.
Justice also acknowledged that more work must be done to improve the agency’s outcomes. The governor said his administration would work with national experts and industry leaders for a top-to-bottom review “so that we may clearly identify its issues, bottlenecks, and inefficiencies.