Two commissioners plan to resign from the Vermont Agency of Human Services in the next two months: Sarah Squirrell, commissioner of the Department of Mental Health, and Cory Gustafson, commissioner of the Department of Vermont Health Access.
Mike Smith, the agency secretary, announced the resignations in a press release Friday afternoon. Gustafson will leave May 31. Squirrell leaves July 1.
In a statement, Smith said it has been a “trying and exhausting year” keeping mental health and Medicaid services flowing to those in need in the middle of a pandemic. He thanked Squirrell and Gustafson for leading their departments “admirably” through the past year.
The Agency of Human Services is actively interviewing and recruiting candidates to fill the positions as soon as possible, Smith said.
Smith did not respond to requests for comment Friday afternoon.
Gustafson: Leaving for a new job
Gustafson said his reason for leaving is simple: four and a half years on the job.
“It’s pretty intense, with overtime, and you know this is the fifth (legislative) session that’s about to complete,” he said. “It’s just time for me to move on.”
Gustafson said he’s heard that nationally, the average length of time for a Medicaid director to stay in the role is 18 to 22 months, depending on whether it’s an election year.
Last winter, Vermont Health Access had 10 data breaches within five months. But Gustafson said that had nothing to do with his decision to leave. He said that was just one of the many challenges of running such a complicated system.
“It really is hard to be in a public position. It’s hard to be in state government, dealing with limited resources on a number of fronts, but the level of effort and persistence that state employees and appointees and elected officials put into their work is something I got to see firsthand, and I’ve always been very impressed,” he said.
Gustafson said he has a new job lined up but isn’t ready to announce it. Before this role, he was the director of government and public relations at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, though government relations isn’t a field he can return to because of a law recently passed banning such moves.
“So that made the challenge of finding a next position a little difficult,” he said.
Squirrell: Moving out of state
Squirrell said she’s leaving the department because her family is moving out of state — though she said she doesn’t have a new job lined up yet.
“I’m not sure what I will be doing next, but my family and I will be staying on the East Coast, just in a different state, and I hope to be able to continue to lead in other capacities in other human services systems and mental health systems as we make this move,” she said.
The Department of Mental Health took heat earlier this week, following reports of kids stuck in emergency rooms for days on end, waiting for mental health care. Squirrell said that was in no way part of her decision to leave.
“It’s all part of the job,” Squirrell said. “We are responsive to the critical needs and the system of care. On any given day, at any time, we have pressure on the system, and as leaders, it’s our responsibility to be accountable and responsible to work within a system of care partners and the Legislature to address those issues.”
Squirrell has been the commissioner for two years. During that time, she led the development of the department’s 10-year plan, “Vision 2030,” to more closely integrate mental and physical health care in Vermont.
“I don’t know that there’s ever a good time to leave a position like this. It really was just the right time for my family, but I’m so grateful I’ve been able to serve in this role and humbled by the opportunity to lead this system of care through the pandemic,” she said.
