State health agency hearing delayed
Chief Financial Officer Mike Romero won’t testify yet about what he learned at the Oklahoma State Department of Health, despite a subpoena to produce thousands of pages of documents detailing alleged financial mismanagement at the agency.
Romero was among the first state Health Department employees to speak with auditors about problems he discovered under the leadership of former top health officials Terry Cline and Julie Cox-Kain, who resigned in October.
In meetings with state auditors, he warned that the agency was dangerously close to running out of money and would be unable to make payroll. In response, the Legislature authorized an emergency appropriation of $30 million during its first special session.
The Oklahoma House Special Investigation Committee subpoenaed Romero and documents on Tuesday, ordering him to appear before the committee two days later on Thursday. On Wednesday, however, the agency asked for an injunction in district court to delay the hearing.
Although it appears the Oklahoma County District Court hasn’t yet ruled on the agency’s request, the House committee canceled the hearing.
“The documentation sought under the subpoena numbers in the thousands of pages,” the department said in a statement. “While Mr. Romero and the OSDH want to be as helpful and transparent as possible to the Investigative Committee, the less than two-day time frame in which to comply does not allow Mr. Romero nor the department adequate time to gather all of the documents and prepare.”
Committee Chair Josh Cockroft, R-Wanette, said the department lied to the court and the Legislature.
“They claim they had petitioned the committee to voluntarily delay the hearing to give more time, but that request was denied,” Cockroft posted to his Facebook page. “Not once did they request us to delay. We’ve been told that the new leadership of OSDH has changed the culture of deceit, but this claim doesn’t seem to coincide with that fact.”
Acting Health Commissioner Preston Doerflinger responded to Cockroft’s assertion, labeling the Wanette Republican’s comments as political theatrics.
“The agency simply made an application to modify the original subpoena to allow additional time to produce the requested information,” Doerflinger said in a written statement. “Multiple attempts have been made to contact the chair throughout this investigation, including yesterday. Requests were also made to the House Majority Floor Leader to modify the subpoena for much of the day yesterday.
“Regardless of this latest attack on our leadership, the focus of this committee and investigation must remain on solutions that protect taxpayer dollars and not jeopardize the efforts of the attorney general, FBI and the (federal Health and Human Services) Office of Inspector General to hold those responsible for this mismanagement accountable.”
Cockroft said the committee will continue its investigation into the Oklahoma State Department of Health and will soon announce an expanded inquiry into other state agencies.