A Republican state senator charged Friday that the Department of Health had hired more than 90 state employees since Gov. Bill Richardson imposed a state hiring freeze – and she wants to know why. Sen. Sue Wilson Beffort, R-Sandia Park, charged during a meeting of the Legislative Finance Committee on Friday that some of those hired were unqualified and were related to current agency employees.

“The magnitude of hires after the freeze of unqualified people who are fast-tracked into training for financial positions is problematic and is creating morale issues,” Beffort said.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said Friday afternoon that most of the people Beffort was talking about were doctors, nurses and other medical professionals hired to care for patients. Those positions are exempted from the hiring freeze, said spokeswoman Deborah Busemeyer.

Some of 90 people hired also went toward beefing up the state’s fight with the swine flu. Busemeyer said the H1N1 virus has “required us to hire temporary folks to help us with vaccination efforts.”