Here is an article you may have interest in posting on DTM. All of this information is in good faith and written for the purpose to expose the mismanagement at the Texas State Dental Board.
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It has been six months since an investigative reporter has exposed Kelly Parker's mismanagement and unethical behavior as the executive director at the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners. Since then, the Board Members have done NOTHING. She has brought disgrace onto the Board and dental profession as evidenced by negative media reports and multiple employee complaints.
Several employees brought their concerns directly to Board members only to hit a wall. Employees jeopardized their own jobs by contacting Board members to report what was happening with the executive director they appointed. Dr. Steve Austin, DDS, the presiding officer of the Board, refused to even listen because he feared being involved in any type of subsequent employee hearing. See email below.
Kelly Parker shut down criminal investigations which allowed dentists and other licensees to potentially get away with criminal activity. State Senators Jose Menendez and Charles Schwertner, as well as the Governor's office, were alerted to this fact. Hello?! Where are these officials?? Where are the Texas Rangers? Or the Attorney General's Office??
At least nine former criminal investigators can testify in this matter. NONE of them have yet been contacted by anyone, not even the senators or governor's office even though they said they would "look in to it." Many of these investigators still have copies of their investigative reports that were written. These ex-investigators are just waiting to share their stories with the appropriate authorities.
All but THREE criminal investigators left the Texas Dental Board this year because of Kelly Parker. There are NO criminal investigators left in the entire Dallas region, the San Antonio region, or the entire Houston region! None of them have been replaced. After the entire investigative supervisory staff left this year, she promoted one sergeant to lieutenant who resigned his position after just a few weeks of having to deal with Kelly Parker. He quit the agency shortly thereafter as well. The mismanagement and unethical decisions coming from Parker prompted many people to leave without having another job to go to. Once again, NONE of the Board Members want to address the nightmare they created.
It is estimated that over HALF the agency employees have left since Kelly Parker and Nycia Deal started running the agency into the ground. Due to the large number of vacancies that have been caused by Kelly Parker, the agency HAS to be behind hundreds and hundreds (if not over a thousand) of complaints waiting to be investigated. She has no one to investigate these complaints! They are apparently trying to use various staff to clear out complaints. NO ONSITES are being conducted at dental clinics, NO SANITATION/STERILIZATION inspections are being conducted, so how can they be claiming they're protecting the public???
Kelly Parker and Nycia Deal shut down onsite inspections and the ability to allow investigators to issue sanitation citations to violators. That has been stopped for well over a year. What is the purpose of that? Makes as much sense as stopping criminal investigations! With all the changes being made, one could easily argue that they are in the business of protecting DENTISTS, NOT THE PUBLIC!!
An independent outside audit should take place. Chances are extremely high that numbers about backlogged cases are being hidden. The same goes for the severely backlogged cases that are being bungled by Dr. Brook Bell and her dental division.
Kelly Parker has lost her second executive administrative assistant. This is the second one in a row to just quit. She lost her communications director, too. Kelly Parker reportedly received a large number of negative feedback from a department-wide survey that was sent about her. This should be very telling that all of these new employees already have nothing but negative to report about her and her management style.
In the two years that Kelly Parker and Nycia Deal have so poorly mismanaged the TSBDE, are they any better off than where they were two years ago? ABSOLUTELY NOT. In fact, they're probably in such a state of disarray, it will be a MONUMENTAL task for a new executive director to come in and right this sinking ship.
The real shame is that none of the Board Members care enough about their profession, much less the public, to deal with the problem they created by putting Kelly Parker and Nycia Deal in charge to make blunder after blunder. Hundreds, if not more than a thousand dental complaints are not being tended to. Hundreds, if not more than a thousand complaints are waiting to be reviewed. The entire state of Texas only has three experienced investigators left. People have been leaving the agency in droves. They cannot retain staff. Morale is abysmal.
The TSBDE is now a raging dumpster fire and the Board Members seemingly ignore these facts.
---Anonymous
