Agency shakeups continue
Little by little, Gov. Kevin Stitt is getting what he asked for on the campaign trail last year — a much more direct hand in the oversight of Oklahoma's largest state agencies.
Becky Pasternik-Ikard, CEO of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, which administers the state's Medicaid program, announced her retirement this week effective Oct. 1. This follows by about six weeks the abrupt and immediate resignation of Joe Allbaugh as director of the Department of Corrections.
The Legislature this year passed a bill giving the governor the power to hire and fire the heads of five agencies — the OHCA, the DOC, the Department of Transportation, the Office of Juvenile Affairs, and the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuses Services.
The idea behind the change was to make the governor, instead of unelected board members, accountable for
the agencies' performance.
Stitt reappointed Steve Buck to lead the Office of Juvenile Affairs. He also named Tim Gatz as the top official at ODOT, filling a vacancy that arose when the former executive director announced his retirement.
In 2018, the Legislature had given the governor the power to appoint the head of the state's largest agency, the Department of Human Services. In early June, Stitt used that tool to hire Justin Brown, CEO of a senior living company, to replace Ed Lake as DHS director.
Lake, director since 2012, hadn't resigned. Allbaugh and Pasternik-Ikard each chose to leave, although Allbaugh apparently clashed with his board after it was overhauled under the new legislation. “They have a different set of ideas than I do,” Allbaugh said in exiting after 3 1/2 years on the job.
Pasternik-Ikard, who became CEO in 2016 after joining the agency when it was created 22 years earlier, announced her retirement in a short email to employees. In a news release, she praised her workforce. “I know their exemplary work will continue in the days and years to come as they continue to work to provide health care to Oklahomans, regardless of ability to pay,” she said.
The person who succeeds Pasternik-Ikard will oversee more than 400 employees and manage a budget of more than $6 billion.
Thus far, the state's mental health agency, led ambitiously by Commissioner Terri White since 2007, hasn't been impacted by the new law. However, given the changes seen thus far, no one should be surprised if White decides on her own to leave or is shown the door.
“With this legislation, we are ensuring Oklahoma's government is truly accountable to the people of Oklahoma,” Stitt said at the bill signing ceremony in March. Before much longer he may have ownership across the board, with voters getting the final say on whether they approve.