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Dr. Caroline Johnson left her position as deputy health commissioner for Philadelphia on Saturday night. She had wrongly consulted two groups that signed up to distribute vaccines, said the city’s Health Department.
After the city made a request for proposals to vaccine distribution partners, Johnson spoke with Philly Fighting COVID and the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium about their applications, the Department of Health said in a statement on Saturday, calling the action “inadequate” though. it may have been intended to help the city distribute vaccines.
“These communications were made after the RFP was posted publicly,” said spokesman James Garrow, referring to both groups. “However, these actions were inadequate because the shared information was not available to all potential candidates.”
Dr. Ala Stanford, head of the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, said Saturday night that describing the email she received as similar to what the PFC received was not a fair categorization, as Johnson’s note to Doroshin it included specific dates for the CEO and health officer clinics he had clearly discussed.
“They got inside information – they had opportunities to plan what others wouldn’t have,” said Stanford.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Johnson had emailed Philly Fighting COVID CEO Andrei Doroshin with advice on his application, telling him to start “conservatively” with a $ 500,000 offer and that “no problem. in including costs for your planning activities and the proposed 8 January 9 events. “
Stanford said that by giving Doroshin the endorsement to include in his proposal the costs of his next clinics – which would happen before any city funds became available – Johnson was essentially guaranteeing Doroshin the contract.
Stanford herself found out about the Philly Fighting COVID clinics in the news when they launched on January 8, she said, before she was even approached about running one.
When she received an email from Johnson on December 31, Stanford said, noting the scope of a budget to be included in the Black Doctors Consortium’s RFP submission to a clinic, it was a surprise.
After seeing the email sent to the PFC at the time, Stanford guessed that Johnson was offering her the same courtesy in an attempt to avoid showing favoritism. The city’s RFP processes are fraught with extensive requirements to help ensure fairness among candidates and avoid the potential for bias.