Saying that newly appointed Michigan Department of Health & Human Services Director Elizabeth Hertel is not “fit to serve” in that role, Bainbridge Township Senator Kim LaSata is calling on colleagues in the Michigan Senate to reject her appointment.
LaSata says today, “Former DHHS Director Robert Gordon’s resignation was a necessary step in the right direction,” and adds, “His tenure was stained with controversy and it was best that he left. Unfortunately, his replacement, Elizabeth Hertel, who was a top Gordon deputy, during recent committee testimony exhibited the aloofness of her predecessor.”
By way of explanation, LaSata continued, saying, “Hertel seemed out of touch and content with carrying forward the existing policies that have driven much of the Whitmer administration’s failing response to the coronavirus over the past year. At this critical time in our state’s history, the department needs a fresh start with an experienced leader. The Senate should disapprove Hertel’s appointment.”
Hertel recently appeared before the Senate Advice and Consent Committee concerning her appointment as DHHS Director and was asked during the hearing what the biggest mistake the department had made over the past year in managing the pandemic. Hertel responded she was unsure and would have to review all the decisions that had been made, ultimately concluding that it would be difficult for her to say what would have been a mistake or what could have been done differently. Pressed further, Hertel couldn’t identify any mistake or issue the department should have handled differently.
Hertel also echoed Gordon’s previous position concerning scientific data and metrics when asked by the committee what drives departmental decisions concerning the virus and public health orders. When asked specifically what threshold would indicate the state was no longer in a pandemic, Hertel cited no certain criteria. It was a response LaSata said demonstrates the department hasn’t changed.
LaSata goes on to say, “Hertel’s elusive and noncommittal responses to very specific questions proved to me DHHS remains, at best, an organization operating entirely in an echo chamber of yes-people,” adding, “There doesn’t appear to be any critical thinking going on in the department. Decisions affecting tens of thousands of people are seemingly made haphazardly with no real long-term plans of seeing us through the pandemic or goals of reopening our state. The lack of communication, transparency and openness to constructive criticism were dangerous precedents set under Gordon’s leadership and we can’t afford to carry that forward with Hertel.”
LaSata says the department’s unresponsiveness is particularly problematic as she has been rebuffed multiple times by department officials when seeking answers about COVID-19 vaccine distribution and eligibility, concluding, “Southwest Michiganders have been waiting over a month for promised responses from DHHS concerning the COVID-19 vaccine priority status of parents and caregivers of vulnerable children. Likewise, despite promises of an official response, the department has thus far failed to answer questions about insufficient vaccine distribution within the 21st Senate District.”
Hertel was named Gordon’s successor the day he resigned, January 22nd. Her appointment is subject to the advice and consent of the Senate, which has until March 23rd to consider disapproval.
