(Editor’s note: This story was updated May 25 at 5:25 p.m. with a comment from Stephanie Beck.)
[T]he Shumlin administration is replacing the person in charge of managing major information technology projects that are designed to be connected to Vermont Health Connect.
Human Services Secretary Hal Cohen notified his staff Monday that Stephanie Beck will no longer serve as the director of the health services enterprise platform. Cohen called it “the next step on the path forward” on projects, which he said “is to ensure we have the people and the expertise in place to keep us moving along that path.”
Cohen said he appointed John Stern, the agency’s deputy chief information officer, as interim director. Cohen wrote in a memo that Stern has “a wealth of experience” and will do well in “this pivotal leadership role in the agency.”
Beck is still employed with the state of Vermont, according to the Department of Human Resources. She did not immediately respond to an emailed inquiry for comment Wednesday morning. The phone number listed in the employee directory is not in service.
Beck said in an email early Wednesday evening that it’s “time for (her) to move on” and return to being a classified employee. “As a former classified employee, I’m exercising the option to return to classified service,” she said. “We’re working on the logistics of my return to classified service.”
The health services enterprise platform is a suite of technology projects that rest on Vermont Health Connect. One of them, called integrated eligibility, is a project to replace fundamental technology that helps Vermonters determine which of dozens of benefit programs, such as food stamps, they are eligible for.
The health service enterprise platform also includes several parts of the Medicaid management information system, called MMIS, which handles how doctors and pharmacies check the insurance status of a Medicaid enrollee and bill Medicaid for services.
The original version of the project had a five-year cost of $771 million. But in February, the Shumlin administration scaled back the project. It indefinitely postponed one project, called MMIS core, and is seeking to use technology from Hawaii to build the foundational pieces of integrated eligibility.
“I want to thank Stephanie Beck for her work developing the (health services enterprise platform), refining the HSE Governance structure, her leadership with our federal partners, and broadening the skill sets that now exist in the (agency),” Cohen wrote in the memo announcing Beck’s departure.
Beck has been a state worker since 2004, according to the Department of Human Resources. She has served as the director of health care operations, compliance and improvement, and became the director of the health services enterprise platform in 2014.
Dean Mudgett, the spokesperson for the Agency of Human Services, said the agency is still “transitioning” the job responsibilities and that he could not speak for what Beck’s future plans are, but she is still working out of her office.
Cohen wrote to his employees: “At the heart of the HSE is a vision for a 21st century technology-based enterprise that will help transform how we work and vastly improve our ability to serve the needs of Vermonters.”
“We have created a solid foundation upon which to build, and we have a very talented team of professionals who work hard every day to bring that vision to life,” he said. “Our path forward is clear, and I am excited for what lays ahead.”