Loretto board holds emergency meeting — but announces no new actions against executives involved in vaccine scandal

The board of directors of Loretto Hospital held an emergency meeting Monday after the latest report of a questionable vaccination event arranged by hospital executives but announced no new actions against the top officials involved.

The hospital’s board met Monday afternoon and formulated a plan to deal with the issue, a spokeswoman said, but released no details. The board instead pointed to a previous statement saying hospital CEO George Miller and Chief Operating Officer Dr. Anosh Ahmed had been “reprimanded.”

“The board has decided not to issue a statement today,” the spokeswoman said in an email. Board members “have developed a corrective action plan and stand by the statement that was issued on Friday.”

Last week, board members said “we are disappointed by the revelations of the past week” and said they took undisclosed actions against the two executives.

The meeting came after Ahmed was allegedly connected to helping vaccinate ineligible people inside a luxury Gold Coast watch and jewelry shop earlier this month, Block Club Chicago reported.

Ahmed allegedly helped set up the vaccination event at Geneva Seal Fine Jewelry & Timepieces 112 E. Oak St., where Ahmed reportedly is a frequent customer.

According to Block Club, people who worked along the strip of high-end stores, their family and friends were offered vaccines regardless of their eligibility status under city and state guidelines. The event took place on March 3 and used vaccine supplies from the Austin hospital which were intended for West Side residents.

On Monday, workers at Geneva Seal hung up three times on a Sun-Times reporter. Loretto Hospital and Ahmed did not respond to requests for comment on the report.

“It’s a mess,” said the Rev. Ira Acree, pastor at Austin’s Greater St. John Bible Church, who called on Loretto’s board to be transparent and disclose the exact nature of the punishments against Ahmed and Miller. “The board must make public those sanctions.”

The city is withholding vaccine from the hospital and Acree said he worries that will have a terrible impact on a community hit hard by the virus.

The scandal unfolded last week when the small West Side hospital faced scrutiny after vaccinating 72 employees at Trump Tower where Ahmed owns a condo.

Then, WBEZ reported that Cook County judges and their spouses were offered vaccinations at the hospital.

The hospital said Miller authorized the events and even provided vaccinations to over 200 congregants of Valley Kingdom Ministries International in Oak Forest at a separate event.

In response, Loretto’s vaccine supply was cut off by the city for offering shots to people not yet eligible. Miller, who hasn’t responded to requests for comment, posted on Facebook that he had been “misguided” and issued a prayer for forgiveness.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot, asked earlier Monday about the latest incident during an unrelated news conference on vaccine distribution, said she “fears that we’re gonna hear more stories. Which is why we pushed pause on giving Loretto new first doses. The Department of Public Health, also myself personally, have been in contact with the CEO and members of the board. They’ve got work to do ... to rebuild trust in their own community,” the mayor said.

Lightfoot said she has reassured West Side residents that, “We’re never gonna leave them in the lurch” when it comes to administering coronavirus vaccines.

“We have already put plans together for other providers to kind of take up the work that Loretto was doing. But clearly, they’ve got to have better systems in place, better controls. They’ve got to have better data infrastructure to make sure they can track people who they’re supposed to be serving. So, there’s a lot of work to be done. I don’t expect them to be coming online anytime soon.”

The fast-unfolding vaccine scandal has been a major embarrassment to Lightfoot, who has stressed vaccine equity and outreach and deliberately chose Loretto to administer the first Chicago doses of the coronavirus vaccine. On Monday, the mayor referred to the city’s decision to cut off the West Side hospital by saying, “It is “unfortunate that it’s come to this.”

Darnell Shields, executive director of the nonprofit Austin Coming Together, said the recent news from Loretto is “disappointing and disturbing” that resources reserved for a community hit hard by the pandemic is being moved elsewhere.

Austin Coming Together partnered with Loretto and Rush University Medical Center for the city’s Protect Chicago Plus program which looks to set up vaccination sites throughout Austin.

Shields doesn’t agree with Loretto’s move to vaccinate people outside of the West Side, but he can’t say if any rules were broken.

“It’s unsure whether the vaccines used were tied to any stipulations by the city that it must be used in Austin and I would like more clarity of that,” Shields said. “Was the designation for the masses? Or specifically for Austin residents?

“At any rate, I think they should take accountability for their actions if there was some sort of wrongdoing based on the hospital’s protocols.”

Contributing: Fran Spielman