Texas Health and Human Services Executive Commissioner Kyle Janek today announced that he’s assembling a team of experts to help strengthen oversight and monitoring of contracts.
“The primary way we deliver services across our agencies is through contracts, and it is imperative that we have the people and processes in place to make sure every dollar is spent wisely,” Janek said. “I’m bringing in some of the top experts in state government to review and improve our contracting processes from procurement to closeout.”
John Scott, the former Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation, recently was named HHSC’s chief operating officer, and his first priority is to strengthen contract oversight at the agency. Scott’s new contract oversight team will include:
Ron Pigott, who headed procurement at the Texas Comptroller’s Office since 2008.
Matthew Chaplin, who served as assistant general counsel at the Texas General Land Office for more than a decade and was in charge of contract compliance and management.
“This is a team of all stars,” Janek said. “John is one of the smartest and most respected people in state government. Ron literally wrote the book on state contracting, and Matt earned a reputation for strong, no-nonsense contract standards at the General Land Office.”
Janek also is hiring Cecile Young as a senior advisor. Young has worked for three governors, in the Attorney General’s Office and as associate commissioner at HHSC from 2007 to 2011.
“Cecile is an expert on policy and budget issues, and she knows our programs,” Janek said.
Scott joined HHSC on January 1. Young starts Thursday, and Pigott and Chaplin are scheduled to start January 26.
In November, Janek hired Nicole Guerrero as the agency’s internal audit director. Guerrero was an audit manager at the Texas State Auditor’s Office and has more than 20 years of audit experience.