CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice rejected the legislature’s plan earlier this year to split the state Department of Health and Human Resources into two agencies–now it appears the state Senate will propose a further split.

Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, said Thursday during an appearance on MetroNews “Talkline” the Senate is working on a plan to divide DHHR into three separate agencies.
“With three separate cabinet secretaries,” Blair said.
Former DHHR Deputy Secretary Jeremiah Samples now works for the legislature’s joint committee and Blair said he’s helping craft the plan.
“With his help we’re going to be drafting legislation that is probably going to be three phases and the first phase is you break it up into groups that are manageable,” Blair said.
Blair indicated the goal would be to divide the agency into three in the upcoming legislative session, take some time to let that settle, and then a future legislature could make additional changes.
“When that is complete, the second phase would come back to the legislature and say ‘you need to do this, this and this, and you’ll have greater efficiencies,'” Blair said.
What is @WVSenatePres take on the Amelia Knisley story? What is his opinion on how it was handled? Senator Blair discusses this ongoing story with @HoppyKercheval. WATCH: https://t.co/yCFQ3nDJuy pic.twitter.com/h2JUB5QK3b
— MetroNews (@WVMetroNews) December 29, 2022
He said not all changes needed for DHHR can come in one legislative session.
“You can’t do everything at once. If you do it all at once you will have a failure on your hands as well,” Blair said Thursday. “Things have been tried in the past. You have to give that first phase time to acclimate and people to be able to adjust.”
Justice vetoed the bill earlier this year that would have split the agency. The state, at Justice’s instruction, hired the McChrystal Group, to study the DHHR from top to bottom. The study was completed and presented to lawmakers in November, some of them came away less than impressed.

DHHR Secretary Bill Crouch announced his retirement earlier this month and Justice appointed Dr. Jeff Coben, who is dean of the School of Public Health at West Virginia University, as interim secretary. Justice asked Dr. Clay Marsh, the executive dean for health sciences at WVU, and James Hoyer, the state’s retired adjutant general, to also lend a hand in implementing changes the McChrystal Group recommended.
“We are looking at if there are things that can be done, reorganization within the organization, and are there areas that could be moved to other areas that could better serve the citizens,” Hoyer said Thursday on “Talkline.” “We hope to put things into place that will do a better job of serving those populations that need to be served.”
Hoyer said Thursday part of that role is to meet with legislative leaders. He said the new team is currently focusing on Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services.
“We want to make sure we’re doing the things that we need to do to improve the capability to address those challenges of our most vulnerable populations, our children and our elderly,” Hoyer said.
He added the team is also working on how to return to West Virginia more than 300 kids who have been placed outside the state.
“We know those children are better served in West Virginia if we can provide the services that they need,” Hoyer said.
Coben has already started to make changes including lifting a hiring freeze that Crouch had put into place.
Blair said he hasn’t spoken with Gov. Justice about the Senate’s plan for DHHR. He said the large agency needs to separated to become more effective.
“The DHHR is a behemoth and there are future ways to be able to break this up effectively,” Blair said.
Thursday’s “Talkline” appearance by Blair was the second day in a row a Senate leader has revealed significant plans for the upcoming legislative session on “Talkline.” Senate Finance Committee Chairman Eric Tarr, R-Putnam, detailed plans for tax reform during a Wednesday visit.
The 60-day legislative session begins Jan. 11.