By Michelle Lujan Grisham
Secretary, N.M. Department of Health
The New Mexico Department of Health is composed of about 4,000 highly qualified professionals who are dedicated to improving the health of New Mexicans. To suggest that the loss of one or two individuals would negatively impact operations of the entire department is irresponsible and ignores the incredible contribution our employees make to this state.
Despite the charges made in the Journal article "Health Boss Takes Heat," the Department of Health stands ready to handle an outbreak of avian flu, hantavirus or any other potentially disastrous pandemic.
The loss of one individual will not adversely impact our ability to react to an emergency one bit; especially because the employee in question— Gary Simpson— did not work in the division responsible for responding to such an outbreak in any case.
We have a well established, coordinated system for responding to infectious diseases with the Indian Health Services, University of New Mexico, Navajo Nation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. We also have a strong emergency response system that relies on our department and emergency preparedness groups throughout the state.
When there was a national outbreak of E-coli last year, our epidemiologists prevented more New Mexicans from getting sick while our state laboratory was the first in the country to trace the cause of the illness to a bag of spinach. This research saved lives.
We worked over the past year with multiple state and federal agencies to develop a surveillance plan for avian influenza in New Mexico.
This department faces enormous challenges in a rural state where the poverty rate is high and people have trouble accessing care. This is why we rely on partnerships and collaborations with providers and organizations across the state.
The Journal's article alleged that we have dropped important partnerships with experts in New Mexico, when we actually have strengthened these relationships.
Our partnership development in the last two years now enables us to:
Provide better treatment to more people with hepatitis C, because of our collaboration with the University of New Mexico:
Provide primary and behavioral health care to thousands of students in our school-based health centers, because of our partnerships with 68 schools;
Provide effective treatment to partners of patients who have sexually transmitted diseases, thus preventing the spread of those diseases, because we worked with the New Mexico Medical Society and the New Mexico Medical Board to change the regulations to allow doctors to do their jobs;
Prevent the spread of tuberculosis in New Mexico by developing a partnership with UNM;
Help every public and charter school prepare for a potential pandemic flu because of our work with the New Mexico Public Education Department.
State personnel law prohibits us from talking about reasons why someone is dismissed, but when an employee fails to perform, steps must be taken to either help the person improve performance, or in the event of a categorical failure, take other actions.
Letting an employee go is the toughest decision that any manager ever faces. But the department never bases these decisions on anything but the cold hard facts of the employee's performance.
The New Mexico Department of Health constantly battles to make New Mexico a healthier place to live by protecting vulnerable individuals, reducing teen pregnancy and suicide, improving immunization rates and keeping New Mexicans safe from disease. We have seen improvements in these priorities, and we want more.
Our staff is dedicated to improving the health of New Mexicans. When we have employees who hinder our progress toward that goal, we will continue to hold them accountable.
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