The doctor leading Arizona's response to the new coronavirus pandemic has a massive job on her hands — and it's not her only one.

Since October, Department of Health Services Director Dr. Cara Christ also has acted as interim director for the Department of Economic Security, the sprawling agency that oversees services such as food, disability and unemployment benefits for the state's most vulnerable.

At the time, the departments already had 9,000-plus employees and a budget of around $5 billion combined.

Now, they're poised to be on the front lines of Arizona's coronavirus emergency, as a surge in cases — and a statewide recession — looms.

"That should be troubling to people," said state Rep. Kelli Butler, a Paradise Valley Democrat who sits on the House Health and Human Services Committee. "We are in the middle of a health crisis, and the director of our state health agency is running another big agency."

A tenable workload?

Gov. Doug Ducey, who has long prided himself on thinning the ranks of state government, described his decision to tap Christ to replace former DES Director Michael Trailor last fall as temporary at the time.

Trailor's resignation followed a years-long string of departures of Ducey department heads — some voluntary, some not — which has since grown.

But five months later, the governor has yet to name a permanent Economic Security director.

And at least one other key administrative role at the Health Department, deputy director of public health services, is vacant as well, according to the agency's most recent organizational chart.

Even before the new coronavirus hit the state, some lawmakers had raised concerns about Health Department staffing in response to a scathing audit that concluded some families waited months for officials to investigate serious nursing home complaints.

And the Department of Economic Security, for its part, was bracing for the impact of federal cuts to food assistance while managing a bedbug infestation and attempting to expand job-training programs for low-income residents.

Asked Friday how Christ — who has appeared alongside the governor for daily coronavirus updates — was juggling her dual roles during the pandemic, the Governor's Office said Christ was no longer leading day-to-day management of DES operations.

Spokesman Patrick Ptak said the "COVID-19 outbreak remains Christ's top priority" and the governor had "implemented organizational structure changes (at DES) to support her."But he did not share specifics or say when Ducey had made those changes.

'Whatever Dr. Christ needs'

Nearly a week later, Health Department spokesman Chris Minnick clarified that a DES deputy director had been appointed to manage day-to-day operations so both agencies could "maximize resources" in response to the new coronavirus.

But he, too, sidestepped questions regarding Christ's workload, Health Department staffing or the agency's financial resources.

A Department of Economic Security spokesman also declined to answer inquiries about that agency's staffing levels, vacancy rates and emergency preparedness.

Pressed by reporters at a coronavirus press conference Wednesday, Ducey told reporters his office would do "whatever Dr. Christ needs to get through this crisis."

“We will have an announcement on DES," he said. "It's going to be very soon.”

Reach the reporter at maria.polletta@arizonarepublic.com or 602-653-6807. Follow her on Twitter @mpolletta.

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