AUSTIN – One of Loretto Hospital’s top executives resigned on Wednesday night after the Block Club revealed that people at three companies with whom he had close relationships were vaccinated with doses from the West Side hospital.
The Loretto Hospital Board of Trustees accepted the resignation of Chief Operating Officer Dr. Anosh Ahmed unanimously on Wednesday, according to a press release. Ahmed’s resignation came just hours after the Block Club reported that ineligible people working at a steakhouse frequented by Ahmed had been vaccinated earlier.
Credit: Loretto HospitalThe council thanked Ahmed for his work – but said it would “continue to investigate any and all deviations from the rules and regulations” for vaccination. Ahmed was hired in 2018.
“If our review reveals anything else that indicates that our processes have been compromised, there will be additional consequences imposed on those responsible for these actions,” said board chairman Edward Hogan in a statement.
Ahmed, who also served as the hospital’s chief financial officer, was heavily criticized after the Block Club report last week that Loretto held a vaccination event at Trump Tower and Ahmed told people he vaccinated millionaire Eric Trump.
Ahmed – who later said he was joking about Trump’s vaccination – owns a condominium at the Trump Tower and told people he is friends with Trump that he would not be eligible for a vaccine in Chicago.
Geneva Seal, a luxury watch and jewelry store on the Gold Coast frequented by Ahmed, was also vaccinated by Loretto in early March; as well as the staff at an expensive Gold Coast steakhouse, Maple & Ash, where Ahmed is a frequent customer.
The scandals extend to other parts of the hospital: More than 200 people in CEO George Miller’s suburban church have been vaccinated by Loretto, the Block Club reported. Ineligible Cook County judges also received offers in Loretto, WBEZ reported.
Loretto Hospital had its supply of doses of coronavirus vaccine interrupted by the city while authorities investigated whether it was vaccinating people properly and reporting vaccinations.
Dr. Allison Arwady, head of the city’s health department, said Loretto used his doses on “well-connected” people, “allowing them to skip the line”. The health department is investigating and will not send the doses to Loretto until he is sure they will be used in accordance with city regulations.
The hospital board said on Friday that it had taken “appropriate reprimanding actions against Miller and Ahmed for their role in errors of judgment” – but board members refused to disclose those punishments.
On Monday, the council held an emergency meeting and said it had created a corrective action plan, but members again refused to say what they planned to do or how they had reprimanded Miller and Ahmed.
Congressman LaShawn Ford, an adviser and representative of the area in the state legislature, resigned on Tuesday morning, saying the board needs to be more transparent.
Loretto Hospital is a small 122-bed hospital operating in the West Side underworld, where people of color have been hit hard by the coronavirus and few people have been vaccinated. Trump Tower, Geneva Seal and Maple & Ash are in the central area, where the impact of the virus has not been felt as much – but where more vaccines have been made.
The city highlighted Loretto’s work as an example of his goal to vaccinate people equitably – even insisting on having the city’s first doses of vaccine administered there to show how Chicago would prioritize communities on the west and south sides that are often ignored.
But the hospital is now embroiled in controversy.
A staff member at Loretto Hospital – who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation – said the controversies are “irritating” because “people are calling every day, waiting in line to be vaccinated” on the West Side.
The team member said that many of his co-workers at Loretto are “frustrated” and questioning how anyone at the hospital can be held responsible. The board should have fired Miller and Ahmed, the official said on Monday.
“We kind of lost confidence in the leadership of Hospital Loretto. We have lost confidence in the board, ”said the official. “It seems very, very corrupt, and it seems that their personal interests are much more important to them than serving the West Side of Chicago, which many of us are passionate about, and many of us are in the hospital because of that.”
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