Kansas GOP candidate Adkins goes on leave from Cerner to focus on House campaign
Cerner executive Amanda Adkins has taken a leave of absence from the company to focus on her campaign to unseat Democratic Rep. Sharice Davids.
Adkins, a former Kansas Republican chair, launched her bid for Kansas’ 3rd congressional district in September, but initially planned to remain as Cerner’s vice president of strategic growth through the campaign.
But as of last week, according to a company spokeswoman, Adkins went on unpaid leave after from her role after 15 years with the health care IT giant.
“Amanda has made the decision to devote all her energy into the campaign and pursue a congressional bid. We wish her luck as she works full-time to represent her constituency and vies for the candidacy,” Cerner spokeswoman Misti Preston said Thursday.
The announcement was marked by confusion and contradictory statements from the Adkins campaign and the company over her actual status.
Preston initially said Thursday morning that the candidate had officially stepped down from her role. When asked in a followup email to clarify whether Adkins had resigned or taken a leave of absence, Preston said the company and candidate would make a decision about a potential return after the election.
“Of course, we wish Amanda the best of luck and don’t want to speculate on any outcomes or a hypothetical situation. But, both Amanda and Cerner will re-evaluate employment possibilities if/when that time comes,” Preston said in an email.
But The Star contacted Preston again after viewing a Facebook post in which the candidate said she was on “unpaid leave.”
Anne Hodgdon, a prominent Kansas Republican activist, had asked Adkins on Facebook whether she had fully resigned from Cerner or had gone on an unpaid leave of absence. The candidate replied, “unpaid leave, no work for Cerner, left my role.”
In response, Preston walked back her earlier statements and said that Adkins was in fact on unpaid leave.
Despite the Facebook post and Preston’s confirmation that Adkins was on unpaid leave, Adkins’ campaign framed it as a more definitive departure from the company.
“Amanda’s last day at Cerner was the 17th. She is doing no work for Cerner, and taking no form of compensation. She is thrilled to be 100% focused on her campaign to serve this district,” Adkins’ spokeswoman Alan Roethle said in an email after The Star sought clarification on the leave arrangement.
The Kansas City-based company is a major federal contractor with a $10 billion contract to design a new health care records system for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The new system is expected launch later this year.
Federal election rules prohibit federal contractors from giving directly to federal candidates. Craig Holman, a lobbyist for Public Citizen, a national group which advocates for tougher ethics standards, said Adkins’ unpaid leave protects Cerner from violating this rule.
But Holman said the fact that she can return from leave after the election still raises questions about a conflict of interest since she could end up on committees with oversight of the company’s contracts if elected to Congress.
“The conflict still persists,” Holman said in a phone call. “The fact that she has not resigned and remains an employee of Cerner means that conflict of interest remains front and center.”
Cerner policies restrict employees from working on campaigns during company time. But as a salaried executive Adkins didn’t use a daily time clock, which potentially clouded the distinction between company and personal time prior to her leave of absence.
Cerner also bars employees from using company resources for federal campaign purposes or using its corporate logo in connection with political activity, according to a copy of its internal rules shared with The Star in November.
Adkins’ campaign website had initially featured the company’s logo in a photograph when the site first went online in an apparent violation of this rule.
The race for the Republican nomination pits Adkins against former Roeland Park Mayor Adrienne Vallejo Foster and Sara Hart Weir, the former president of the National Down Syndrome Society.
Adkins’ campaign announced earlier this month that she has raised more than $500,000 in her bid to face Davids. The other two GOP candidates have yet to announce fundraising totals for the final months of 2019.
Kevin Hardy reported from Kansas City.
This story has been updated.
This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 12:54 PM.
