Bevin's former top health official rejected for $200K teaching job at U of L

Vickie Yates Brown Glisson, Gov. Matt Bevin's former top health and human services official, won't get the $200,000-a-year teaching job she had negotiated with the University of Louisville after all.

Late Friday, the top academic official at U of L issued a letter that said Glisson, a lawyer, appeared to lack teaching experience and academic research needed for the appointment as a faculty member at the U of L School of Public Health and Information Services.

Citing the "extremely tight budgets and limited financial resources at U of L," Dale Billingsley, acting executive vice president and provost at the university, said he could not recommend Glisson's appointment to the teaching job.

"This concludes the hiring process," said the letter from Billingsley to Craig Blakely, dean of the school of public health. "There is no appeal from my decision."

"I am sorry this will come as a disappointment to the school and Ms. Glisson," Billingsley's letter said.

A spokeswoman for Glisson didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

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On Jan. 30, Glisson, a Republican, abruptly quit her $155,000-a-year job as secretary of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services, the same day she announced her surprise run for Congress, hoping to unseat six-term incumbent Democrat John Yarmuth of Louisville.

Glisson's negotiation for the U of L teaching job was first reported by Insider Louisville on Feb. 14. She previously had worked at the U of L Foundation before becoming cabinet secretary for Bevin in 2015.

The Insider story said U of L's contract with Glisson was subject to approval by the university's board. It also said U of L officials did not know Glisson was planning to run for Congress when they negotiated the contract.

U of L spokesman John Karman said Billingsley's review of the proposed contract was one of the required procedural steps before it could be finalized.

"The potential hire didn't make it through the process," Karman said.

The decision by U of L not to proceed with the contract comes one day after a group of Democrats in the General Assembly asked university officials to reconsider giving Glisson the job.

In a letter Thursday to interim U of L President Greg Postel, 39 Democrats from the House and Senate said the school "seems to have circumvented its regular hiring procedure" in offering Glisson a part-time professor's job. The letter also had been copied to Billingsley and U of L Board Chairman David Grissom.

Rep. Jim Wayne, a Louisville Democrat who signed the letter, said he thought the outcome was appropriate.

"I'm pleased that the provost reviewed her background and was able to make decision that was appropriate for the university," Wayne said.

The Democrats' letter also said the salary appears to be "exorbitant" compared to the typical starting salary for professors of around $50,000 and questioned Glisson's qualifications.

"I think it just looks funny, it smells funny and it probably is funny," said Rep. Mary Lou Marzian, a Louisville Democrat who signed the letter. "I don’t know how that happened. I can only speculate that perhaps there was a deal to cut."

Grissom could not be reached for comment. A woman who answered the phone at Glenview Trust, Grissom's investment business, refused to take a message and told a reporter that "he actually doesn’t wish to talk to you," then hung up.

"I'm very disappointed in the university's decision not to keep their commitment," Glisson said to Courier Journal late Friday.

Glisson's campaign spokeswoman also provided a statement on her behalf earlier Friday — before U of L announced she would not get the job.

"Vickie is an accomplished, qualified woman who's proven her value and merit through a diverse career in law, health care and community involvement," said the statement provided by media coordinator Sarah Burton. "Maybe the signatories should focus on their own jobs, in Frankfort, and stop playing political games.”

But Sen. Morgan McGarvey, of Louisville, one of three Democrats in the Senate to sign the letter, said he believes the job offer raises significant questions, including whether Glisson negotiated an employment contract with U of L while she was still working as head of the public agency that oversees Medicaid funding for the university's medical facilities.

"There's at least the appearance of a potential conflict," McGarvey said.

Read this: Bevin countersues in Medicaid reform fight, says liberals trying to leave Kentucky out

The Democrats, in their letter, also cited "questionable policy decisions" by Glisson during her two years over Health and Family Services, including personnel issues, the botched rollout in 2016 of benefind, the state's online public benefit system, and her advocacy for Bevin's overhaul of the state Medicaid system.

Glisson's campaign statement disputed any such claims of poor performance at the cabinet.

"She's done her job and done it well," it said.

As cabinet secretary, Glisson oversaw more than 7,000 employees and an annual budget of more than $12 billion. She was also one of the top officials in the Bevin administration involved in reshaping the state Medicaid program to include requirements that some people either work or volunteer to receive those health benefits.

Yarmuth, 3rd District representative, and the only Democrat in Kentucky's congressional delegation, voted for the Affordable Care Act in 2010 that allowed the state to expand its Medicaid program. He has sharply criticized Bevin over changes to Medicaid, which provides health coverage for 1.4 million Kentuckians.

Glisson, a former attorney with the Louisville firm Frost Brown Todd, spent months working to launch Bevin's Medicaid plan under a federal approval known as a "waiver."

Glisson also served as president of Nucleus, an economic development arm of U of L. She also was listed as a special assistant to the university's former President James Ramsey, advising in the areas of health, life science and research.

Deborah Yetter: 502-582-4228; dyetter@courier-journal.com. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/deborahy.