The previous CIO, Jennifer Wendel, first started working in the federal government in 1996 and moved to the HHS CIO shop in early 2023. Wendel wrote on LinkedIn earlier this week that she took the administration’s deferred resignation program and encouraged remaining staff to “continue thriving, innovating, and always supporting one another.”
The department’s leadership bench has seen a lot of turnover since January, said one current HHS employee who was granted anonymity to be candid about the happenings at the agency.
“The loss of so much leadership has not only left a power vacuum, but a giant brain drain,” they said. “Morale is at an all time low. People were more energized while we were fighting COVID. The lack of direction as to what’s happening and the nonsensical changes have left the staff scrambling and hopeless. We feel like what’s the point if tomorrow a new edict comes down and everything is scrapped.”
Last month, about half of the HHS CIO shop was laid off, and all of its senior executive service employees were reassigned to the Indian Health Service, with limited relocation options in Montana, Alaska and Oklahoma, Nextgov/FCW previously reported. HHS is currently undertaking a massive restructuring, slashing 20,000 federal employees and centralizing functions like IT and HR.
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Avery Muse — still listed as the department’s executive director for the Office of Operations on the HHS website — posted on his LinkedIn two weeks ago that he was retiri ..
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