ADHS nominee Debbie Johnston advances to full Senate despite committee concerns over OCR probe and pandemic response

The Arizona Senate Committee on Director Nominations recommended Debbie Johnston to the full Senate for confirmation as director of the Arizona Department of Health Services by a 4-1 vote.

Johnston, who identified herself as Deborah (Debbie) Johnston and described a multi-decade career in state government and the Arizona Hospital & Healthcare Association, delivered an opening statement highlighting immediate steps she said she'd taken since becoming ADHS director in December: reorganizing the public health licensing division, hiring a deputy with clinical experience, standardizing stakeholder engagement for rulemakings, implementing post-inspection surveys and creating a licensee rights-and-protections document to address alleged retaliation claims.

Committee members pressed Johnston on a range of issues, including licensing reforms, enforcement priorities for assisted living and nursing facilities, the state health lab's funding gap (Johnston said she expects roughly a $2,000,000 shortfall next year), use of artificial intelligence to improve scheduling and public access to enforcement records, and how she would handle directives from the governor she believed to be unlawful (Johnston said she would consult general counsel, the attorney general's office if needed, and resign if directed to carry out an unlawful order).

A major portion of questioning focused on a Dec. 9, 2025 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Civil Rights Office (OCR) investigation into ADHS for allegedly using the governor's executive order to threaten licensing actions against facilities (including religious providers) that declined to provide certain services. Johnston said ADHS has cooperated with OCR, turned over documents, and does not believe its regulations give it authority to force clinical referrals; she said allegations of retaliation had been taken seriously, that some licensing staff had left, and that her office is awaiting OCR's findings before taking further personnel actions.

Chair Jay Kaufman criticized what he described as a lack of institutional acknowledgment of pandemic-era missteps and said he was troubled by the absence of a public after-action reckoning. He voted against advancing Johnston, but the committee's majority concluded the nominee should proceed to the full Senate.

Several stakeholders testified in favor of Johnston, including representatives from the Alzheimer's Association, Arizona LeadingAge, Arizona Healthcare Association and Arizona Alpha; they praised improved communication and accessibility since Johnston's appointment.

The committee's recommendation moves Johnston's nomination to the full Senate for a final confirmation vote.