Ousted leader of Texas psychiatric hospitals struggled in job after not getting promotion

Before resigning in March, the associate commissioner for Texas’ 10 publicly funded psychiatric hospitals was struggling to perform after not receiving a promotion, state records indicate. Tim Bray, who resigned to avoid being fired, oversaw state mental hospital operations for the state’s Health and Human Services Commission between September 2016 and March. During that time, the waitlist for beds grew more than 550 percent, from 354 in September 2016 to 2,309 in March, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of state data. Emails obtained through an open records request by the Chronicle this week show that, in the months leading up to his resignation, Bray failed to: catch up on training despite being reminded, notify upper management of significant issues from the state hospitals, such as staff not being paid appropriately, and participate in brainstorming sessions about recruitment and retention.

“On several occasions, Tim has failed to take direction from me and twice now, has referenced his frustration with not getting the job over me and having difficulties accepting that,” Scott Schalchlin, deputy executive commissioner for HHSC’s Health and Specialty Care System, wrote in performance notes shared with the agency’s deputy director of human resources in a March 16 email. Bray, who now works for a Texas-based mental health nonprofit, said in a statement that he is proud of the work he did while overseeing state hospitals and believes the agency made significant progress during his tenure. He noted that his leadership was recognized in performance evaluations for helping with state hospital system improvements. “Until my final day, I was committed to ensuring that the state hospitals were operating as efficiently and effectively as possible,” Bray wrote. “However, it was clear that Deputy Executive Commissioner Schalchlin preferred a different direction for the state hospitals and his leadership team, which I accommodated with my resignation.” The Health and Human Services Commission announced Schalchlin’s appointment to its leadership team in August 2021. He had previously served as associate commissioner for Texas’ State Supported Living Centers, which are residential facilities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.