Why Hasn't DMH's Keith Schaefer Resigned Yet?

We learned last week that Keith Schaefer, the man who Matt Blunt helped become director of the Department of Mental Health, had violated both federal law and the privacy of more than two dozen disabled Missourians:

...the DMH's release of the federal report last week also inadvertently
violated that medical privacy law, the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act of 1996 or HIPAA. The report — which the state sent
to the Post-Dispatch and other news organizations, several state
legislators and some families of residents — included information that
allows 27 patients to be readily identified by name and medical
condition.

But unconscionably, Schaefer still remains atop the Department of Mental Health.

Schaefer --who admitted to a Senate Appropriations panel Wednesday that his office bears responsibility for the violation-- had rushed to release the report as a pretext for the Department's announcement that it would be forcing residents and employees out of the Bellefontaine Habilitation Center.  In Schaefer's headlong hurry to do the governor's bidding by scoring points against disabled people and state employees, he released a report in a manner that showed total disregard for patient confidentiality --not to mention the laws of the United States.  This is apparently how business gets done under Matt Blunt.

It goes without saying that Schaefer's is a firing offense.  But Schaefer has yet to step down.  Matt Blunt should be calling Keith Schaefer and asking him for his resignation.  If he's not, he should personally explain to the families of 27 Missourians whose rights Schaefer has violated why he should be allowed to stay on.