Disgraced outgoing Governor Andrew Cuomo faces successor Kathy Hochul with a major staffing crisis in the state Department of Health when she takes office on Tuesday, according to staff records from The Post.
Records showing 58 DOH employees earning more than $ 100,000, including top political officials and scientists tasked with fighting the relentless COVID-19 crisis, have fled the 1-year-old agency. January to August 11 this year.
Two more senior health officials have since resigned, for a total of 60. One is Richard Becker, the governor’s deputy secretary of health and human services, who was hired last August.
“Hochul has received an exhausted and demoralized health department. It will be Hochul’s problem to rebuild DOH, ”a former veteran Department of Health official told The Post.
“They’ve lost a lot of knowledge and experience and they haven’t replaced it.”
The source said health commissioner Howard Zucker, who was facing, was trying to recruit talent to fill vacancies before Cuomo announced his resignation after a devastating investigation report issued by state Attorney General Letitia James , on August 3, determined that the governor sexually harassed 11 women, including current and former officials. . Cuomo has repeatedly denied these allegations.
On August 3, the governor was found sexually harassing 11 women, including current and former officials.
Cuomo, who faced a likely dismissal, announced his resignation after 11 years in office.
Staff exodus and brain drain could complicate Hochul’s decision on whether to leave Health Commissioner Howard Zucker. He is expected to remain at the helm of the DOH temporarily during Hochul’s 45-day transition and review period.
The list of departures obtained through an application for the Freedom of Information Act filed with the office of State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli includes:
- Debra Blog, director of the epidemiology division, the unit responsible for fighting communicable diseases and infections such as COVID-19 and overseeing vaccination programs. His annual salary was $ 196,991 when he left.
- Victoria Derbyshire, who was deputy director of the nationally renowned Wadsworth Lab Center DOH for seven years and has worked there since 1992. She is now a health consultant and her LinkedIn page said she spent “the last eight months” as Wadsworth’s deputy director “in the absence of a director.” He earned $ 163,688 a year. Wadsworth director Jill Taylor resigned earlier.
- Lauren Tobias, former director of DOH’s Family Health Division, who supported COVID-19 emergency planning efforts. He earned $ 152,000 a year and now works for pressure firm Brown & Weinraub.
- Greg Allen, the former director of programs and management who was primarily responsible for Medicaid service planning and policy. He was paid $ 188,000.
- Janet Zachary-Elkind, Allen’s deputy director. He earned $ 173,000.
- Peggy Chan, former director of the payment system of the delivery system of the Health Insurance Office. He was paid $ 181,056.
- Michael Bass, a former deputy attorney for litigation of $ 160,690 a year.
- Tracey Fay Raleigh, deputy director of the DOH Planning and Licensing Center.
- Paula Breen, a former deputy director of the Office of Professional Medical Conduct, who earned $ 153,375.
- Gary Holmes, who earned $ 168,000 and served as DOH’s assistant communications commissioner.
- Erasmus Schneider, director of research and scientists at DOH and its Wadsworth laboratory. He was paid $ 163,860 and retired in June.
Seven other investigators have also recently left and some of the DOH officials have been transferred to other agencies. Nora Yates, director of DOH’s contract tracking program that previously helped run the community health center, is now an associate curator at the state office for children and families.
The Hochul office did not argue that there was a staffing issue at DOH.
“The Department of Health has thousands of employees across the state, many of whom continue to work long hours and in difficult circumstances as we fight the COVID-19 pandemic,” Hochul spokeswoman Haley Viccaro said.
“The lieutenant governor has outlined a 45-day transition window and the transition team is actively working to recruit employees from both the Executive Chamber and all state agencies, including the Department of Health, as part of a new administration “We are confident that the government will function at all levels throughout this process,” Viccaro added.
A Health Department spokesman said the agency has and will continue to “actively recruit” a new generation of employees to run the agency.
“Department of Health employees are proud of the role we have played in leading New York through an unprecedented pandemic, as many have delayed scheduled departures or retirement to do so, while others have returned from retirement. to help manage our response to COVID-19, ”he said. DOH Representative Jill Montag.
“We continue to actively recruit the next generation of professionals as we promote the health of New Yorkers and prepare for a new government administration in the coming days,” he said.
Many critics have called for Zucker’s dismissal for doing Cuomo’s dirty work during the pandemic.
Zucker signed the controversial DOH directive during the early days of the pandemic that ordered nursing homes to take in COVID-19 patients from hospitals without prior testing. . Cuomo and Zucker defended the policy, which was later overturned.
Zucker and DOH were also involved in Cuomo’s cover-up of the true number of deaths from COVID-19 in residences and in trying to acquit the administration of misdemeanors in an internal report released last year.
Critics said Cuomo reduced or downplayed the role of DOH experts in other key pandemic decisions, such as the deployment of tests and vaccination campaigns.
More than 54,000 people have died from COVID-19 in New York State, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. About 16,000 fatalities were residents of residences and other adult care centers.