Health and Human Services Commission Inspector General Doug Wilson resigned Friday, scarcely more than an hour after the state auditor announced it would launch an investigation into no-bid contracts brokered under his watch in conjunction with an anti-public corruption at the Travis County District Attorney’s office.
Gov. Rick Perry requested the resignation, his spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said. Wilson’s last day is Dec. 31.
“Ongoing questions regarding the awarding of contracts at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission have caused the governor to lose confidence in Wilson’s ability to carry out the important oversight responsibilities of this office,” Nashed said in a statement.
Wilson’s resignation comes one week after the massive health agency’s chief counsel, Jack Stick, resigned amid an ongoing Austin American-Statesman investigation.
Stick had been under fire for his role in helping Austin data analytics firm 21CT secure a contract to bring to the inspector general sophisticated technology to investigate Medicaid fraud. That software was intended to help investigators track down and predict Medicaid fraud. Stick, who previously served as Wilson’s deputy, was skirting procurement laws to steer the contract to 21CT, an American-Statesman investigation has found.
On Friday, legislators began calling for Wilson’s resignation.
via Inspector General resigns amid questions over no-bid contracts | Statesman Investigates.