AUGUSTA – MaineGeneral Health board members are largely silent after reports that their pilot vaccine program COVID-19 has given handpicked donors and former staff members access to vaccines before members of the public, even though several Local residents are warning that they may not go through the hospital’s appointment system.
Referring to these reports during a press conference on Tuesday, Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention, said questions were raised about equity in MaineGeneral’s vaccine management.
“I haven’t had independent conversations with anyone in MaineGeneral, so I have no primary knowledge of the facts at hand,” said Shah. “There are so many different ways that trust is essential in the process that goes on. An equal part of this is trust in the process. These perceptions of trust and favoritism are of concern. “
Bangor Daily News reported on Sunday that Augusta-based MaineGeneral offered early vaccinations to donors and former employees before the public was registered.
MaineGeneral spokeswoman Joy McKenna said in an interview with the Kennebec Journal that the 40 people were part of a “Day in Life” trial and received vaccines, and 12 out of 40 were donors to the hospital system. McKenna said that no board member was involved in the vaccination clinic and that the “Day in Life” process was conducted on all major hospital projects, starting with the Cancer Center in 2007.
“In retrospect, if we had known it would be perceived in this way, we would have done things differently,” said McKenna. “We never intend to give anyone any privileged access.”
Jim LaLiberty, chairman of the board of directors of MaineGeneral Health, defended the vaccination clinic saying that it achieved its goals, revealing some administrative problems and allowing future clinics to be conducted more efficiently. He said that being a donor to the hospital “was not a criterion” to be included in the pilot program, and that people were selected based on their ability to “provide useful feedback”.
“The fact that donors have been included is a reflection of the large number of donors and supporters we have and it is a coincidence, nothing more,” said LaLiberty. “MaineGeneral has complied with all federal and state CDC guidelines applicable in the administration of this pilot project, and we are fully committed to an equitable and transparent distribution of the vaccine to all who are eligible, without privilege or favoring anyone.”
While most of the 17 board members remained silent or indifferent when contacted by the Kennebec Journal this week, Barbara Mayer said equity issues did not put the organization in the “best light”.
Underlining the perception of privileged access, the hospital’s philanthropy director contacted a former donor about participating in the vaccination clinic because of his previous support.
“Maybe having the philanthropy department (call) was not such a good idea,” said Mayer. “I would be surprised if someone thought (it was).”
Meanwhile, several local seniors have told the Kennebec Journal in the past few days that they have struggled to successfully schedule a vaccination appointment for COVID-19 through the MaineGeneral program. Some residents reported making more than 100 calls to the vaccination hotline and being put on hold for hours.
Mayer said he talked to the hospital’s CEO, Chuck Hays, about the vaccine and he asked if she was interested in receiving it.
“My husband is quite old,” said Mayer, 75. “I had a conversation (with Hays) in which (he) asked if I was interested because of my husband’s age. (I don’t know) whether that was due to our age and situation or because of my participation on the board. “
McKenna said MaineGeneral contacted “40 people associated with the organization – ex-employees, ex-volunteers and others who met the criteria of 70 years or older, many of whom are familiar with the ‘Day in Life’ exercise we did – to help us to see if our planning has been kept in practice. ”All participants met the CDC guidelines, she said.
Mayer said she ended up being vaccinated by Bangor’s Northern Light system, and her husband was vaccinated by Veteran’s Affairs medical system. Mayer said the VA’s system classifies patients based on their susceptibility to serious COVID-19-related complications, rather than being a limited-vacancy call record.
Despite his conversation with Hays, Mayer said there was never an indication during board meetings that members would receive the vaccine.
Mayer said the hospital has a history of careful planning for new programs, and the choice of those close to the hospital could have given authorities better feedback on the process. She said she would be “very, very concerned” if people who donated could get to the front of the public vaccination clinic line, which she said should be differentiated from the 40-person test.
Mayer said he would be curious to see how CEOs of other hospital systems are responding to donor requests for access to vaccines.
“It’s chaotic across the country, and I don’t think Maine is an exception to that,” she said. “I think it is chaotic and difficult.”
McKenna said the hospital understands that “people are disappointed in the way we conduct the testing of the community’s vaccination system” and feels “terrible about it”.
But “we received feedback from this group that we needed some additional guidance signals,” said McKenna, referring to the clinic of selected participants. “We also encountered some paperwork problems and recognized how to minimize them. We specifically chose people who could look with a critical eye and provide feedback on how we could improve our processes. “
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