Health services agencies revamped

Gov. Sonny Perdue on Monday enacted a massive overhaul of the state’s health services agencies, calling a new state law “an important step for Georgia in the care of its citizens.”

Perdue signed into law House Bill 228, which splits the Department of Human Resources into three separate agencies:

> A Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities that includes mental health.

Dr. Frank Shelp, clinical director at Georgia Regional Hospital in Savannah, will serve as commissioner.

> A Department of Community Health that includes PeachCare, Medicaid and public health. Current community health commissioner Dr. Rhonda Medows will continue to lead the agency.

> A revamped Department of Human Resources that will focus on aging and child and family services. It will be led by Commissioner B.J. Walker.

Perdue said he is committed to having the new agencies in place and operating July 1.

Rep. Mark Butler (R-Carrollton), who sponsored the legislation, called it a “stronger foundation for health and human services.”

Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford), who led the fight in the Senate, said the law will “result in improved care for our state’s most vulnerable residents.”

The existing department has faced scrutiny recently, most notably in the mental health division. Perdue in January signed a pledge to settle a Justice Department inquiry that committed the state to a five-year plan of correcting deficiencies that caused hundreds of patient injuries and illnesses and dozens of deaths.

More recently, an employee of the Department of Human Resources complained to the state inspector general that Walker, the department’s commissioner, hired a personal friend who charged the department for hours not worked.