New health chief says city lead program is top priority
Council also approves request for audit proposals
Fresh off her appointment by a nearly unanimous Common Council, interim Health Commissioner Patricia McManus said Tuesday that her first priority will be addressing problems in the city’s lead programs. McManus, who was backed on a 13-1 vote, said she supports a federal investigation of the program aimed at preventing lead poisoning in children. She also vowed to find out why the Milwaukee Health Department had failed to provide follow-up services to thousands of children who had tested positive for lead — or at least failed to document those services.
Her predecessor, Bevan Baker, stepped down last month after news about the troubled program came to
light.
“We’re sorry,” McManus said to the Milwaukee families affected by errors in the lead programs. “We’re sorry that happened, but we want to work to improve the system.”
McManus, head of the Black Health Coalition of Wisconsin, also promised to be an independent voice as health commissioner, saying she would not take a “loyalty oath” to the council or Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett.
Her appointment came after two hours of debate at City Hall. She faced tough questions from some aldermen while others praised her as the ideal candidate for the job, which pays from $118,000 to $165,000 a year.
“I wholeheartedly support you,” Ald. Milele Coggs told McManus.
McManus described herself as a dedicated public servant who was urged by community members to help the Health Department work through its current crisis. She added that she was not interested in serving as commissioner for the long haul, saying she loves her work with the Black Health Coalition.
“I wasn’t job hunting,” McManus said.
She faced especially pointed questions from Ald. Terry Witkowski, who asked about a range of issues, including her position on co-sleeping and past work to combat infant mortality.
Witkowski was the only no vote. Ald. Michael Murphy abstained.
Several aldermen raised concerns about the speed of her appointment, noting that it had not gone through the typical process of a committee hearing and vote before being taken up by the full council.
Council President Ashanti Hamilton bristled at the criticism.
“I thought it was imperative upon us to move at the speed of justice,” Hamilton said. “We’ve done it for others. The examination was thorough. There isn’t another question that you could have for her tomorrow that hasn’t been asked today.”
McManus was also questioned about her organization’s loss of a $750,000-ayear federal Healthy Start grant in 2014. The agency used the money to reduce the racial and ethnic disparities in Milwaukee’s infant mortality rate. McManus’ group had first received funding through this program in 1998.
A spokesman for the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, which manages the Healthy Start program, said at the time that the agency had begun awarding grants through a competitive process and the Black Health Coalition “did not score highly enough to be funded.”
But at Tuesday’s meeting, she said federal officials had essentially said they were going to fund the group and then changed the process.
“It wasn’t about our performance. It was about somebody new coming in,” McManus said.
Another resolution approved Tuesday by the Milwaukee Common Council on a 14-1 vote directed the city clerk’s office to prepare and issue a request for proposals to conduct a comprehensive audit of the department.
“I’m looking for an outside firm to come in and tell us what’s right,” said Ald. Russell W. Stamper II, the measure’s lead sponsor.
Witkowski was again the only no vote on that resolution, which aims to launch an audit of the Health Department’s operations and finances from 2013 to 2017.
The votes came one day after Barrett withdrew his pick to serve as temporary head of the Health Department. Barrett said Monday he was dropping his appointment of Paul Nannis because it was clear that he did not have the votes to be confirmed by aldermen.
Nannis had faced criticism from some aldermen who accused him of being too close to the Barrett administration.
The struggling health agency has been without a leader since Jan. 11.
The city’s Department of Employee Relations has launched a national health commissioner search and the deadline to apply is Feb. 23. In a Monday letter to aldermen, Barrett said he intends to appoint a permanent health commissioner in early April.
When pressed after Tuesday’s meeting about whether she would be willing to serve for an extended period of time, McManus said, “I’m open to thinking about it.”
“I’m not going to leave it. I don’t do that,” McManus told reporters. “I wouldn’t just walk away if they don’t have anybody. That’s even worse. I couldn’t do that.”
The mayor’s office said Tuesday that before Barrett signs the file, he will meet with McManus.
McManus said she was not concerned that Barrett has been noncommittal about whether he supports her.
“I’m going to do what I do. And I’ve known Tom a long time,” she said. “He knows how I am and who I am. And I’m going to be asking him to help me and get the work done, but if there’s interference in that, then I’ve got to go somewhere else.”