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| "Arkansas' Voice on the Internet" | Previous Features / Investigations |
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 Frazier turns down $118,000 UAMS job ELIZABETH MCFARLAND ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE Lee Frazier has declined a $118,000-a-year job at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, UAMS Chancellor Dr. Harry Ward said Tuesday. Ward said he met with Frazier to discuss the job offered in June when Frazier resigned as director of the state Department of Human Services. "He has declined a position. It was his idea. He felt it would be very difficult, given all the things going on, to be effective in working with the different agencies and communities at this given time," Ward said. Frazier said he probably will return to his private business -- Trinity Health Care -- which he operated on and off for 15 years before taking the state job in July 1997. "I need to get out of the public eye," Frazier said. Frazier resigned effective July 1 after a year as head of the state's largest agency, which has more than 7,000 employees and is regarded in some quarters as virtually unmanageable. Frazier attributed his resignation to news reports of allegations that children were being abused while in the care of one of the department's divisions and to a cool relationship with legislators. In a statement issued late Tuesday, Frazier said, "Public attention directed to the position has led me to reconsider the offer. Given the continuing concentration focused on my acceptance of this position, I believe it would be difficult for me to be as effective as I would need to be in working with various government agencies and communities, as the position requires." He said he is "gravely disappointed" that he will not be working with Ward because he likes Ward and the university. When the job was offered, Ward said he and Frazier had discussed for many years the possibility that Frazier would come to work for the university. Frazier said the job offer from Ward was not a payoff that allowed him to leave a troubled agency. "This wasn't about me," he said. He said Gov. Mike Huckabee, who appointed Frazier a year ago to run the Human Services Department, did not ask Ward to hire him. Several state legislators have criticized Ward for creating the job for Frazier. At a meeting of the Joint Budget Committee, lawmakers questioned whether the job was needed and threatened to take away Ward's flexibility to create positions without legislative approval. Frazier was to begin work next month, developing a relationship among the university and community health clinics and the state Health Department, teaching a master's level public health program, and tackling other duties as Ward developed them. Before starting work, Frazier was supposed to produce a written report on transitional issues for Richard Weiss, who was appointed acting director of the Department of Human Services. Department spokesman Joe Quinn said Monday that the report was due Friday. Weiss said Tuesday that he doesn't have a firm deadline on when the report is due but that Frazier said he would deliver it shortly. He said Frazier had put together a reorganization plan for the department before he left, but the two didn't get to discuss it. "Lee has a lot of good and valuable thoughts about the direction this department could go in," he said. Weiss said he wanted Frazier to explore the underlying issues of the reorganization. Frazier is to be paid $5,000 for the report, about a half month's salary as director, Weiss said. "While he is probably not cut out to run a huge organization like this, he's got a great mind and is a huge resource. That's Lee's strong point. Lee is not a management expert," Weiss said. Trinity Health Care is a hospital or health-care management company, Frazier said. The company buys, sells and builds hospitals and helps develop financing or partnerships for those who wish to expand medical facilities, he said. Frazier shut down Trinity Health Care when he accepted the job of director of the Department of Human Services last July. His wife, Deborah, is chief of staff to the director of the state Health Department. This article was published on Wednesday, July 29, 1998 Copyright, permissions and privacy policy Copyright © 2008, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. All rights reserved. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. |
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