Emily Rice Published

The Future Of The W.Va. DHHR Remains Uncertain

A man wearing a black suit speaks to a room of lawmakers from a podium.
Interim Cabinet Secretary of the DHHR Dr. Jeff Coben speaks during the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability meeting.
Perry Bennett/WV Legislative Photography
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Legislators learned the path to reorganize the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) remains uncertain during the Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability meeting Monday.

House Bill 2006 terminates the DHHR beginning Jan. 1, 2024 and instead creates three departments: the Department of Human Services, the Department of Health and the Department of Health Facilities. The bill was signed into law on March 4.

While there was no formal working document of the transition plan to present to lawmakers, Interim Cabinet Secretary of the DHHR Dr. Jeff Coben said he has been preparing for discussions with Gov. Jim Justice’s office by talking to his employees.

“I convened a series of 21 town hall meetings with several thousand employees of DHHR to understand their concerns and questions about the transition and also to help provide them with as much information as I could about the plans for the transition of the department,” he said.

Coben said he will have more information after he meets with the governor’s office next week and will be ready to share that information during May interim meetings.

“We certainly do plan to present a transition plan to the governor’s office,” Coben said. “I have ideas on how I think we can move forward over the course of these next nine months and beyond. But again, I think I can’t get out over my skis, because I have to really make sure that the governor’s team is on board with those ideas and plans.”

Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, asked Coben to provide legislators with information about properly restructuring the department over the next nine months.

“Enlighten us. I know that you’re seeing some of them, tell us what the obstacles are to being able to update the legislature on the reformation of the DHHR,” Blair said. “If you don’t have that list, then the next time you come back, you can have one for me. But I want to know what roadblocks are going to be showing up. What’s going back, whether it’s federal, whether it’s things that we have statutorily, whatever it takes to be able to get this accurate. I need that feedback. We need that feedback.”