Gov. Pat McCrory, who is slightly more popular than that guy who shot Cecil the lion, is slowly being deserted by high-ranking members of his cabinet.
The latest to go is the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Aldona Wos. She will be resigning according to an announcement the Governor made at a press conference this morning. Wos is a Greensboro physician and is best known as a Republican party fundraiser and as President George W. Bush’s ambassador to Estonia.
As DHHS Secretary, Wos is best known for giving two young McCrory campaign staffers double-digit raises after a few months on the job, bringing the annual salaries of then 24-year-olds, DHHS chief policy officer Matthew McKillip and DHHS communications director Ricky Diaz, to $87,500 and $85,000 respectively, in 2013.
Wos is also well-known for sending 50,000 children’s health insurance cards to the wrong addresses, in January, 2014. She is pretty well-known for some high-profile delays in Medicaid reimbursements and food stamps deliveries. And she is quite well-known for giving an 11-month, $310,000 contract to an adviser who worked at her husband’s company, as well as for the speedy departures of well-compensated Medicaid director Carol Steckel, and former chief of staff Thomas Adams, who received a $37,000 severance package.
At the press conference, McCrory said Wos told him of her decision to step down more than a month ago.
“You’ve been a public servant that did everything we asked for and exceeded my expectations,” an emotional Gov. McCrory told Wos, who stood beside him. “You can’t replace talent like Wos.”
Wos, also emotional, told her staffers not to give up, and to keep working to improve peoples’ lives. After 32 months, “it is simply time to go home,” she said.
Rick Brajer, a private sector health care CEO, will attempt to replace the talent of Wos.
