(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Trustees of The Loretto Hospital have formally reprimanded Loretto's president and chief operating officer after the administration authorized use of COVID-19 vaccine on people not yet eligible to receive it.
The board met Friday in response to news stories — originated by Block Club Chicago — about missteps the hospital has made in administering the still-scarce vaccine.
"We are disappointed by the revelations of the past week," the board said in a statement Friday. "We have taken appropriate actions of reprimand against Loretto’s President/CEO George Miller and COO Anosh Ahmed, MD, for their roles in mistakes of judgment made."
No details were given.
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In one highly publicized instance, the West Side safety-net hospital sent a medical team to Trump Tower downtown to vaccinate hotel and restaurant employees, even though they weren’t eligible. Another news report said ineligible Cook County judges got the vaccine, courtesy of Loretto.
And Block Club Chicago reported that several members of president and CEO George Miller’s suburban church received the vaccine.
The city of Chicago has temporarily suspended Loretto’s vaccine supply, pending an inquiry.
One of the hospital’s board members, LaShawn Ford, told WBBM Newsradio Friday the administration showed a “lapse in judgment” but says the Lightfoot Administration should not cut off vaccine supply.
He said the hospital has already implemented changes for greater oversight of vaccine distribution and will no longer travel off-site to give doses.
Ford said the buck stops with Miller, but lays much of the blame on Chief Operating Officer Dr Anosh Ahmed.
Here is the board’s complete statement:
“We are disappointed by the revelations of the past week. While it is the estimation of the Board that all reported events stemmed from a sincere desire to vaccinate as many eligible Chicagoans as possible – especially people of color – as quickly as possible, we acknowledge that actions were taken that fall outside the scope of The Loretto Hospital’s core mission. We have taken appropriate actions of reprimand against Loretto’s President/CEO George Miller and COO Anosh Ahmed, MD, for their roles in mistakes of judgment made.
With a laser focus on the Austin community, we are reviewing all vaccination distribution practices at the hospital. We are working with the hospital executive and medical teams to put control measures in place to ensure strict adherence to City of Chicago and Chicago Department of Public Health vaccine eligibility requirements and reporting protocols moving forward.
We will not allow any of this to derail us from our commitment to serving a community disproportionately devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. We are proud that The Loretto Hospital has administered more than 14,000 coronavirus vaccines to-date, 65 percent of which have gone to people of color. The Loretto Hospital has been on the frontlines of the fight against COVID on Chicago’s West side since day one and we will not rest until every eligible Austin resident has been vaccinated.”
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