Raimondo to Kilmartin: Investigate Lawyer Over Missed Deadline, HHS Secretary Escapes Blame
Tuesday, June 05, 2018
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo’s administration has placed the blame for the potential for a more than $24 million loss to state taxpayers on staff lawyer Gregory Hazian for failing to file an appeal in May for the state’s attempted rate reduction to nursing homes — and not on the leadership in the department.
Health and Human Services Secretary Eric Beane Monday afternoon spoke to Hazian’s resignation, before Hazian was supposed to be questioned by administration staff.
Raimondo then placed the blame on Hazian for the potential loss — not for the department’s lacking oversight structure — Monday evening, when she said she called on Attorney General Peter Kilmartin to conduct an investigation.
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GoLocal reported Monday morning, “Blistering Criticism By Democrats and Republicans on Raimondo Administration’s Legal Bungling” — but HHS Secretary Beane, like the Governor, placed the blame on lawyer Hazian — who lost his accreditation with the state this past January after not fulfilling his required continuing law education credits.
Beane addressed the press early Monday afternoon at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services in Cranston.
“From the legal [documents] you know our attorney of record failed to advise leadership of this case and took action to conceal his knowledge of the court’s decision,” said Beane. “This is inexcusable. We were prepared to move forward with termination but in lieu of that accepted his resignation. We expect our employees to conduct themselves professionally and that did not happen in this case. And while personnel issues exist in any large organization, this type of behavior will not be tolerated.”
“I’ve also placed the attorney’s supervisor on administrative leave. This is an egregious error. We need to investigate fully how the legal team was being managed and how information about this case was not shared with leadership. Everyone is entitled to due process which we will honor in this case,” said Beane.
Beane also addressed what he said could still be a positive in the situation.
“It’s also important to step back and focus on the impact here. If the state does not ultimately prevail in this case — which was possible, even in the absence of our untimely appeal — nursing homes will have more money to invest in supports and services.,” said Beane. “Nursing homes are critical lifelines for our seniors and their loved ones and I’m confident any additional resources will be invested in quality services.
Former Director of Administration Gary Sasse, however, called the situation an “embarrassment” on Monday, when he appeared on GoLocal LIVE.
“It’s an unexplainable embarrassment,” said Sasse. “The people of Rhode Island. have to ask why. It was a pretty simple case.”
“There were heads of the department that had no idea what was transpiring — that was the embarrassment,” said Sasse. “The governor said she’s disappointed — we’re all disappointed. This a lot of taxpayer money here. There needs to be an independent investigation. The taxpayer’s given enough rope to this agency.”
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