The investigation undertaken by The City of Philadelphia Office of the Inspector General (OIG) into the relationship between the Philadelphia Department of Public Health and the local Philly Fighting COVID (PFC) organization revealed deficiencies and lack of transparency in the procedures to engage PFC as a vaccinating partner.
According to a statement released by OIG, the investigation showed that the Health Department properly awarded Philly Fighting a contract to conduct COVID-19 testing during the early stages of the organization’s relationship with the City.
However, the Health Department did not follow any formal or structured contracting procedure when working with PFC to establish a mass vaccination clinic during January 2021. The investigation determined that although the Health Department ensured that the medical staff of PFC’s leadership was appropriately licensed and qualified to administer vaccinations, numerous red flags that should have been considered before asking PFC to run a mass vaccination clinic were ignored.
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To illustrate this, the statement said the Health Department failed to exercise due diligence in vetting PFC and its CEO, Andrei Doroshin.
Thomas Farley role
Regarding Dr. Thomas Farley performance, the OIG investigation finds that he acted appropriately within the leadership structure he established in his Department and took no action that would violate any laws, rules or regulations governing the vaccination or contracting process.
Nevertheless, the OIG recommends that the Health Department conduct additional training for all employees involved in the contracting process, particularly related to emergent contracting procedures to assist with a swift emergency response. In addition, the report recommends that the Health Department continue to enhance transparency with respect to the allocation of vaccines between and among different City-wide providers.
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