MaineGeneral Health did not intend to offer ‘privileged access’ to COVID-19 vaccine, official said

AUGUSTA – Maine General Health board members remain largely silent following reports that their COVID-19 vaccine pilot program has given to hand-picked donors and former members of the staff access immunizations before members of the public, even as several local residents sound the alarm that they may not go through the hospital’s appointment system.

Referring to those reports during a press briefing Tuesday, Dr Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention, said questions had been raised about fairness in the management of vaccinations by MaineGeneral.

“I haven’t had independent conversations with anyone at MaineGeneral, so I don’t have primary knowledge of the facts,” Shah said. “There are so many different ways in which trust is essential in the process ahead. Confidence in the process is an equal part of this. These perceptions of trust and favoritism are cause for concern. “

The Bangor Daily News reported on Sunday that Augusta-based MaineGeneral was offering early vaccination to donors and former employees before the public were offered the registration.

MaineGeneral spokeswoman Joy McKenna said in an interview with the Kennebec Journal that all 40 people were part of a “Day in the Life” process test and had received vaccinations, and 12 of the 40 were donors for the hospital system. McKenna said that no board member was involved in the immunization clinic and that the “Day in the Life” process has been carried out across all major hospital projects, starting with the Cancer Center. in 2007.

“Looking back, if we had known it was going to be seen that way, we would have done things differently,” McKenna said. “We never intended to give anyone privileged access.”

Jim LaLiberty, chairman of the board of directors of MaineGeneral Health, defended the immunization clinic saying it had met its goals, uncovering some administrative issues and allowing future clinics to be run more efficiently. He said being a hospital donor was “not a criteria” to be included in the pilot program, and people were selected based on their ability to “provide useful feedback.”

“The fact that donors have been included is a reflection of the large number of donors and supporters we have and it’s a coincidence, nothing more,” said LaLiberty. “MaineGeneral complied with all applicable federal and state CDC guidelines when administering this pilot project, and we are fully committed to equitable and transparent distribution of the vaccine to all who are eligible, without privileges or favors. towards anyone. ”

While most of the 17 board members remained silent or did not respond when contacted by the Kennebec Journal this week, Barbara Mayer said fairness issues did not put the organization under “the best day ”.

Highlighting the perception of privileged access, the hospital’s director of philanthropy reportedly contacted a former donor about his participation in the immunization clinic because of his previous support.

“Maybe the philanthropy (appeal) service maybe hasn’t been such a good idea,” Mayer said. “I’d be surprised if anyone thought (was).”

Meanwhile, several local seniors have told the Kennebec Journal in recent days that they are struggling to successfully schedule a COVID-19 vaccination appointment through the MaineGeneral program. Some residents said they made more than 100 immunization hotline calls and were put on hold for hours.

Mayer said she spoke with hospital CEO Chuck Hays about the vaccine and asked if she was interested in receiving it.

“My husband is quite old,” said Mayer, 75. “I had a conversation (with Hays) which (he) asked me if I was interested because of my husband’s age. (I don’t know) whether or not it was due to our age and situation or my membership on the board. “

McKenna said the MaineGeneral had contacted “40 people associated with the organization – former employees, former volunteers and others who met the age criteria of 70 years or older, many of whom are familiar with the ‘Day in the Life’ exercise. what we did – to help us see if our planning has held up in practice. All attendees followed CDC guidelines, she said.

Mayer said she was ultimately vaccinated by the Bangor-based Northern Light System and her husband was vaccinated by the Veterans Medical System. Mayer said the VA system categorizes patients based on their susceptibility to serious complications from COVID-19, instead of being a call recording with limited slots.

Despite her conversation with Hays, Mayer said there had never been any indication at board meetings that members would receive the vaccine.

Mayer said the hospital used to carefully plan new programs and manually selecting people close to the hospital could have given officials better feedback on the process. She said she would be “very, very concerned” if people who donated could make it to the start of the line for public vaccination clinics, which she said should be distinguished from the 40-person test.

Mayer said she would be curious to see how CEOs of other hospital systems respond to donor requests for access to vaccines.

“It’s chaotic across the country, and I don’t think Maine is an exception to that,” she said. “I think it’s chaotic and difficult.”

McKenna said the hospital understands that “people are disappointed with the way we tested the community immunization system” and feel “terrible about it.”

But “we received feedback from this group that we needed additional referral signage,” McKenna said, referring to the clinic of the selected participants. “We also found some paperwork issues and recognized how to minimize those issues. We specifically chose people who can take a critical look and provide feedback on how we might improve our processes. “

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