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“No Confidence in the Integrity of Our Current Executive Leadership”: Member of NH’s EMS Board Resigns Over Sununu’s Handling of COVID-19
In case you missed it, NHPR reported yesterday that Scott Schuler, a member of the Emergency Medical and Trauma Services Coordinating Board, resigned from their position, citing Chris Sununu’s mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic over the past two years and Sununu’s Executive Council’s decision to bow to anti-vaxxer extremists and turn down $27 million in federal funding for immunizations. In their resignation letter, Schuler wrote that “the totality of Covid-19 missteps from our Governor’s office in the last 20 months along with today’s Executive Council vote, rejecting federal immunization funds, leaves me with no confidence in the integrity of our current Executive leadership.” Schuler also wrote that they “have lost trust” that the Executive Branch serves “in the best interest of the New Hampshire residents.” This resignation comes after now-former Republican State Representative and physician Bill Marsh left the Republican party and became a Democrat due to Sununu and the NH GOP’s continued embrace of anti-vaxxer rhetoric, which has led to an ongoing civil war in the Republican Party and could have serious political consequences for Sununu and the NH GOP in 2022. Key Excerpts:
Schuler says the board worked directly with the governor's office on past emergency health initiatives, including the creation of a licensing process for law enforcement officers to carry Narcan with them.
While the work is not directly COVID-19 focused, Schuler sees the connection to their role on the board and what they consider a failure of state leadership to support the public health system in fighting the pandemic.
“If we truly are serving to advise members of the executive branch, and if they're not going to listen to the experts in one department, why would they listen to the experts in another department?”
Schuler says they’ve watched time and time again as state leaders have played down the severity of the pandemic and pulled back on public health efforts like contract tracing and mask requirements in schools, a decision the state has left to local school districts.
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