Health and Human Services outlines roadmap, cites staffing gains and ‘Mission 0’ for psychiatric boarding

Lori Weaver, commissioner of the Department of Health and Human Services, told the Senate Health and Human Services Committee that the department is using a roadmap focused on “culture, community and customer service” to guide priorities including workforce retention, behavioral health and services for older adults.

The roadmap, Weaver said, is designed to prioritize who the department serves and how it works. “Our long game is pretty much what our vision statement says, optimal health and well-being for everyone,” Commissioner Weaver said, laying out a four-topic focus the department chose to discuss with the committee: eliminating emergency-department boarding for people needing inpatient psychiatric care (Mission 0); healthy mothers and babies; successful transitions for people after incarceration; and a system of care for healthy aging.

Why it matters: HHS accounts for a large share of the state budget and services. Weaver told senators that HHS comprises roughly one-quarter of state employees and receives about 53% of the state’s general-fund budget, and that progress on hiring and retention affects the department’s capacity to deliver services.

Key details

- Workforce and budget: Weaver said HHS has about 32,100 authorized positions and roughly 27,100 filled…