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Dr. Caroline Johnson stepped down from her position as deputy commissioner for Philadelphia on Saturday night. She consulted improperly with two groups that applied to distribute vaccines, the health department said.
After the city submitted a request for proposals for vaccine distribution partners, Johnson spoke to Philly Fighting COVID and the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium about their applications, the health department said in a statement on Saturday, calling the action “inappropriate”. , although it may be intended to help the city distribute vaccines.
“This announcement was made after the RFP was made public,” spokesman James Garrow said, referring to both groups. “However, this action was inappropriate because the information shared was not available to all potential applicants.”
Dr. Ala Stanford, head of the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, said Saturday night that the description of the email she received was similar to the one PFC received was not a reasonable categorization, given Johnson’s remark to Doroshin contained specific dates for clinics, the CEO. and health officials have clearly already discussed.
“They got inside information – they got the opportunity to plan that others would not be granted,” Stanford said.
The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Johnson sent an email to Andries Doroshin, CEO of Philly Fighting COVID, advising on his application, saying he should start ‘conservatively’ with a $ 500,000 bid and that it’s good to include costs for your planning activities and the proposed January 8th. 9-event. ”
Stanford said by giving Doroshin the OK to include the cost of its upcoming clinics in its proposal – which would take place before any city funds would be available – Johnson essentially guarantees Doroshin the contract.
Stanford itself invented the news about Philly Fighting COVID’s clinics when they launched on January 8, she said before she was ever approached about running it.
When she received an email from Johnson on Dec. 31, Stanford said the size of a budget to be included in the RFP submission of a Black Doctors Consortium for a clinic was astounding.
After Stanford sent the email to PFC at the time, Stanford advises Johnson to extend her same courtesy in an effort to prevent him from being favored. City RFP processes contain many requirements to ensure fairness between applicants and to avoid the possibility of bias.