Panel Told Hirings on Fast Track Official Says Behavioral Health Vacancies Won't Slow Mental-Health Reform
Posted on: Sunday, 10 April 2005, 15:00 CDT
LINCOLN --The botched hiring of a mental health consumer advocate and the subsequent resignation of Nebraska's behavioral health administrator won't slow mental health reform, an oversight commission heard Friday.
State Health and Human Services System Policy Secretary Chris Peterson said the search for replacements is on a fast track. New personnel could be in place in as soon as three months, she said.
Last month, department officials withdrew a job offer to Wayne McGuire, their first choice for program administrator for consumer affairs, after learning he had been convicted in Rwanda in the 1985 murder of famed gorilla researcher Dian Fossey.
Behavioral Health Administrator Richard DeLiberty resigned the next week, saying he had lost the confidence of his superiors and Gov. Dave Heineman.
State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha had called for DeLiberty to be fired because he had not cleared McGuire's hiring with his bosses after confirming the Rwandan conviction.
Peterson told the Behavioral Health Oversight Commission about the situation Friday. The panel was created by the Legislature last year to oversee the eventual closing of two state mental hospitals and development of replacement services in the community.
Peterson said the Health and Human Services System has made changes in its hiring practices.
It now is a written requirement that job interviews be conducted by at least two people. DeLiberty had interviewed the consumer advocate candidates by himself, a violation of unwritten policy.
She said the Health and Human Services System would continue to conduct extensive background checks, including court system checks, driver's licenses checks, and checks with the federal Bureau of Prisons.
Top management personnel will not be hired before they clear background checks. Lower-ranking personnel will be able to start work contingent upon clearing the criminal history.
Ron Sorensen, a longtime behavioral health official, is serving as interim behavioral health administrator.
Dr. Richard Raymond, the state's chief medical officer, said Sorensen will keep the effort on track.
"This may look like a huge step backwards, but we made a lot of progress before Mr. DeLiberty was hired in October 2004," Raymond said.
"I don't see anything slowing down or stopping because of this."
Source: Omaha World - Herald
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