{"id":7379,"date":"2025-06-17T10:22:41","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T14:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=7379"},"modified":"2025-06-17T10:22:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T14:22:41","slug":"board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/","title":{"rendered":"Board tables no-confidence vote against OMH Commissioner; engages in Q&A"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ann
Ann Sullivan, Commissioner for the New York State Office of Mental Health<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

June 20, 2025 —<\/em> The Executive Board tabled its proposed no-confidence vote in Office of Mental Health Commissioner Ann Sullivan at the June meeting in Albany after the commissioner and top members of her staff came before the board to discuss assaults, workplace violence, and bullying at numerous OMH facilities and what her agency plans to do to curb them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey heard us very loudly and immediately after that we met with Commissioner Sullivan and we have met with her team every Monday since,\u201d President Wayne Spence told the board on June 12. \u201cWe believe the need to take up the resolution will not be necessary at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vice President Darlene Williams, a long-time public servant at OMH, said it was a meaningful moment for the Executive Board that Commissioner Sullivan was in attendance that day.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe didn\u2019t have to do that, she could have let things remain the way that they were,\u201d Wiliams said. \u201cWe had been raising concerns for a very long time. It\u2019s easy to ignore that or just respond defensively. She stepped in with leadership and grace. She met us head on not with anger or excuses, but with humility and heartfelt apology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams said she has heard many promises over the years, but the meetings that came in the wake of the proposed no-confidence vote were the most meaningful of her career.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t divided as labor and management, but united as professionals who care deeply about people,\u201d she said. \u201cI felt like the system was working the way it was supposed to, with respect, collaboration, and shared accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commissioner Sullivan said she walked away from the meetings with the same sentiments.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomewhere along the way, OMH lost our way,\u201d she said. \u201cNow we are on a different path. Your team are strong advocates. They are going to keep our feet to the fire and make sure we do everything we say we are going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

She outlined several projects her agency is already working on to mitigate the issues in facilities, including communication protocols that are uniform across the agency and include OMH, PEF executives, and facility leadership; holding Health and Safety Committees accountable and requiring they calendar meetings through the end of 2025; implementing health and safety trainings on committee operations, PESH, illness and injury data, and walkthroughs; and working to partner and engage with law enforcement.<\/p>\n

In advance of the meeting, Executive Board members submitted questions for the commissioner.<\/p>\n

Region 1 Coordinator Vincent Cicatello, who works at Buffalo Psychiatric Center, asked what measures are being taken to control contraband entering facilities, such as weapons and drugs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a changing population of individuals coming into residences and facilities,\u201d Commissioner Sullivan acknowledged. \u201cWe have to rethink what we have been doing. We are open to suggestions. One that has been brought forward is respectful searches. But we have to define contraband and look at balancing opportunities to increase safety while being respectful of the needs of clients.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to a question about addressing violence related to substance abuse, the commissioner said OMH is considering more expertly trained staff and providing that training. She also said clients need more to do and there are plans to increase work readiness programs.<\/p>\n

The issue of body scanners came up and met with some pushback from Commissioner Sullivan, who said OMH wants to maintain a sense of home in its residences. Members pointed out that the public is often subject to scanners, at hospitals, concerts, in courthouses, and more.<\/p>\n

On the issue of management bullying, the commissioner said: \u201cBullying is never acceptable.\u201d She said OMH will stand behind any member who comes forward and protect them from retaliation; and the agency is \u201ccreating a culture of respect\u201d by requiring training to address supervisory skills.<\/p>\n

Several questions came in about open campuses and the lack of safety officers. OMH is looking into how to design and staff units to address safety, including implementing special intensive teams who would work with units on preventing violence.<\/p>\n

The conversation also turned to corrections-based operations. Executive Board members said constituents have told them they feel like they are visitors and not afforded the same level of training as their colleagues within the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS).<\/p>\n

\u201cNurses who were exposed to an unknown chemical agent were unaware that their contacts needed to be removed immediately,\u201d Cicatello said as an example. \u201cThey didn\u2019t know the decontamination process. This has been a long-term struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commissioner Sullivan said OMH needs to have a good working relationship with DOCCS but offered no other information.<\/p>\n

Weekly meetings with OMH to address labor-management and health and safety issues will continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t stop incidents, but we can certainly move to mitigate and make sure the frequency is reduced,\u201d President Spence said. \u201cWith every incident we learn how we could have done better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

June 20, 2025 — The Executive Board tabled its proposed no-confidence vote in Office of Mental Health Commissioner Ann Sullivan at the June meeting in Albany after the commissioner and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"division":[],"allowed_regions":[],"allowed_divisions":[],"class_list":["post-7379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-43-no-6"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBoard tables no-confidence vote against OMH Commissioner; engages in Q&A - PEF Communicator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Board tables no-confidence vote against OMH Commissioner; engages in Q&A\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"June 20, 2025 — The Executive Board tabled its proposed no-confidence vote in Office of Mental Health Commissioner Ann Sullivan at the June meeting in Albany after the commissioner and...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PEF Communicator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-17T14:22:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/ann-sullivan.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ksheehan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ksheehan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-6\\\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-6\\\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ksheehan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e\"},\"headline\":\"Board tables no-confidence vote against OMH Commissioner; engages in Q&A\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-17T14:22:41+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-6\\\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":841,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-6\\\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/ann-sullivan.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-6\\\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-6\\\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\\\/\",\"name\":\"Board tables no-confidence vote against OMH Commissioner; engages in Q&A - PEF Communicator\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-6\\\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-6\\\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/ann-sullivan.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-17T14:22:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-6\\\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-6\\\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-6\\\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/ann-sullivan.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/ann-sullivan.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Ann Sullivan, Commissioner for the New York State Office of Mental Health\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-6\\\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Volume 43. No. 6\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-43-no-6\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Board tables no-confidence vote against OMH Commissioner; engages in Q&A\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"PEF Communicator\",\"description\":\"NYS PEF Communicator\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e\",\"name\":\"ksheehan\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/author\\\/ksheehan\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Board tables no-confidence vote against OMH Commissioner; engages in Q&A - PEF Communicator","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Board tables no-confidence vote against OMH Commissioner; engages in Q&A","og_description":"June 20, 2025 — The Executive Board tabled its proposed no-confidence vote in Office of Mental Health Commissioner Ann Sullivan at the June meeting in Albany after the commissioner and...","og_url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/","og_site_name":"PEF Communicator","article_published_time":"2025-06-17T14:22:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/ann-sullivan.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"ksheehan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ksheehan","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/"},"author":{"name":"ksheehan","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e"},"headline":"Board tables no-confidence vote against OMH Commissioner; engages in Q&A","datePublished":"2025-06-17T14:22:41+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/"},"wordCount":841,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/ann-sullivan.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/","name":"Board tables no-confidence vote against OMH Commissioner; engages in Q&A - PEF Communicator","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/ann-sullivan.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-17T14:22:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/ann-sullivan.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/06\/ann-sullivan.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"Ann Sullivan, Commissioner for the New York State Office of Mental Health"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/board-tables-no-confidence-vote-against-omh-commissioner-engages-in-qa\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Volume 43. No. 6","item":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-43-no-6\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Board tables no-confidence vote against OMH Commissioner; engages in Q&A"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/","name":"PEF Communicator","description":"NYS PEF Communicator","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/#\/schema\/person\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e","name":"ksheehan","url":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/author\/ksheehan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7379"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7384,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7379\/revisions\/7384"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7379"},{"taxonomy":"division","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/division?post=7379"},{"taxonomy":"allowed_regions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/allowed_regions?post=7379"},{"taxonomy":"allowed_divisions","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/noduslink\/wp\/v2\/allowed_divisions?post=7379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}