SC lacks health agency chief as coronavirus rages. Prospects interviewed Monday.
The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control is seeking a new leader to fight the coronavirus pandemic as the unprecedented health crisis marches through the state — and some officials say it’s critical that DHEC choose the right person.
Agency board members met privately for more than two hours Monday to interview candidates for the post, agency spokeswoman Cristi Moore said. The agency did not say who was interviewed.
Board chairman Mark Elam was not made available to The State to discuss the meeting, but Elam issued a statement after the session Monday.
“The board’s selection of the next DHEC director is progressing,’’ Elam’s statement said. “The board remains committed to selecting a superb candidate who will continue the agency’s current response to the pandemic, its overall forward progress in protecting the health and environment of our great state and position the agency for future continued success.”
It may be late December before the agency makes a decision on a new executive director to replace Rick Toomey, who resigned in late spring during the height of the pandemic. Toomey, who had high blood pressure and a heart condition, served less than 18 months.
An agency board member, Toomey was offered the job in late 2018 after a lengthy and secretive search that sparked criticism of DHEC’s hiring process.
So far this year, the board has received 45 applications for the director’s job, which pays a minimum of $178,126 annually. Acting director Marshall Taylor, the department’s chief legal counsel, has not applied for the position, a spokeswoman said.
DHEC’s next director faces perhaps greater challenges than anyone who has run the agency before. The department is trying to manage public health during a coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 160,000 South Carolinians, killing more than 3,500 since early March.
As the state’s health agency, DHEC has been in charge of telling people how to stay safe from the virus, such as avoiding large crowds and wearing masks. The department also oversees coronavirus testing in South Carolina and is the lead response agency on the crisis.
But DHEC has been criticized for failing to release information that could have informed the public about COVID 19 and for sometimes failing to challenge Gov. Henry McMaster. In August, state epidemiologist Linda Bell , who said McMaster’s staff was “manipulative,” said she regretted not speaking more forcefully about the agency’s position on public health measures.
Toomey’s decision to leave in May was one of several high profile departures, including the resignation of Joan Duwve, the department’s director of health. Duwve had been on the job about six months when she decided to return to the Midwest.
Sen. Marlon Kimpson, who serves on a committee that will screen the candidate DHEC ultimately chooses, said the next director needs to be a person with experience in epidemiology and public health who also has strong leadership skills. He said he has not been overly impressed with the agency’s response to the coronavirus.
“This is not a job for a politician or somebody’s cousin,’’ Kimpson, D-Charleston, said. “The mortality rate, the rate of infectious disease and spread is alarming due to COVID. We have not been able to tackle the pandemic, in part due to poor leadership and instability at DHEC.’’
Kimpson has been critical of DHEC’s efforts in the past, including how the agency has responded to pressure from polluting industries, including large-scale agricultural businesses.
“There is no greater search process currently underway that is more important than this one,’’ he said.
Rep. Bill Hixon, R-Aiken, agreed that DHEC needs to choose the right person, but he said the agency doesn’t need a health care professional to run the agency. A professional manager who hires quality people could do the job, said Hixon, who serves on a House committee that regularly deals with DHEC.
“It’s really a figurehead job,’’ Hixon said of the DHEC director’s post. “I don’t know if you can find a jack of all trades who is going to know a little bit about everything to be in charge. DHEC is such a diverse organization we have in this state. You just really need somebody who is a good administrator …. But mainly to know how to make good hires.’’
DHEC did not release a timetable for interviewing candidates, referring questions to Find Great People, the search firm that it has retained to help with a national search. Efforts to reach Find Great People were unsuccessful Friday.
Find Great People will be paid 20 percent of what the director’s first year salary will be, according to plans. That would be at least $35,600, in addition to an upfront fee of $1,500, DHEC’s Moore said.
The Greenville search company helped with DHEC’s last search for a director. The company received $35,000 for its efforts in the last director search in 2017 and 2018.
Toomey, an agency board member, got the job after the board reopened the search and chose him for the position in December 2018 following months of secrecy. The job had been vacant for about 18 months until he took over.
The agency has had three executive directors in less than 10 years: Catherine Templeton, Catherine Heigel and Toomey. Another candidate, Eleanor Kitzman, was expected to take the job in 2015, but was not confirmed by the Senate after questions arose over her qualifications.
DHEC, one of South Carolina’s largest agencies with about 3,500 employees, is responsbile for both public health and environmental oversight. The department oversees everything from hospital expansions and public health responses to air pollution and environmental permitting.
This story has been updated to reflect Monday’s DHEC meeting
This story was originally published October 24, 2020 at 6:57 AM.
