The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in some ways, appears to be in a state of crisis. Notwithstanding an apparent loss of thousands of employees; the presence of health emergencies—including Ebola and the resurgence of measles; and no confirmed leader for either the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) or the Office of the Surgeon General—one would never guess so based upon how those who report to the director behave.
As The New York Times reports, many insiders believe that the actions taken by HHS Director Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may result in the deaths of people.
According to The New York Times, staff reports that HHS Director Kennedy “is rarely seen” at the HHS headquarters. When he is present, they say he is typically working very short days and appears checked out on his phone during high-level meeting discussions while frontline personnel work around the clock responding to growing numbers of cases related to current outbreaks.
Many of these same individuals have expressed concern regarding whether, over time, the United States will enter into the late 2020’s with a weakened public health shield; reduced leadership capacity, a decreased ability to respond to emerging outbreaks quickly, and fewer professionals authorized to share information about emerging health threats.
In addition, Nine former CDC directors recently published a New York Times Op-Ed piece stating that his management style is “the most bizarre that America has ever experienced.” Additionally, they stated that Mr. Kennedy is undermining vaccination efforts, terminating the employment of experts, and failing to adequately prepare the U.S. to address upcoming health emergencies.
Critics further argue that “…RFK Jr. has failed miserably in his role as Secretary of HHS” focusing on promoting “pet causes” and providing “media tour opportunities” rather than engaging in the unglamorous grind of running the CDC, NIH, and other organizations under the HHS umbrella.
Finally, these critics warn that what was broken in just a matter of weeks will likely require decades to repair. That is not good.
Has any previous HHS Secretary who has received similar levels of criticism?
We should keep in mind that the type of “Big Government” we like to complain about includes nurses, epidemiologists, laboratory technicians, etc. But they are exactly the folks we’ll rely upon when another health-related disaster strikes.
Will we be prepared for that disaster?
It wasn’t long ago that we were entirely dependent on HHS. And they bailed us out quickly.
