The City of Philadelphia Office of the Inspector General reports evidence of procedural deficiencies and lack of transparency after initiating an investigation into the relationship between the Philadelphia Department of Public Health Department and the local organization Philly Fighting COVID.
PHILADELPHIA – The City of Philadelphia Office of the Inspector General (OIG) announced today the initial results of an on-going investigation into the relationship between the Philadelphia Health Department and the local organization Philly Fighting COVID (PFC), finding a lack of procedural safeguards in the decision to engage PFC as a vaccinating partner.
The investigation revealed that the Health Department properly awarded PFC 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 in January of this year. While they ensured that the medical staff of PFC’s leadership were appropriately licensed and qualified to administer vaccinations, the Health Department failed to exercise due diligence in vetting PFC and its CEO, Andrei Doroshin. They ignored numerous red flags that should have been considered before asking PFC to run a mass vaccination clinic.
The OIG report finds that Dr. Thomas Farley, Commissioner, 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. However, the OIG recommends that the Health Department conduct additional trainings for all employees involved in the contracting process, particularly related to emergent contracting procedures to assist with a swift emergency response. The report also recommends that the Health Department continue to enhance transparency with respect to the allocation of vaccine between and among different City-wide providers.
Read the full report here.
About the Office of the Inspector General
The mission of the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is to boost public confidence in the integrity of City government by rooting out fraud, corruption and government misconduct. For more information, visit: www.phila.gov/ig.