Illinois Department of Public Health questioned over pandemic-era performance audit

[May 17, 2023]  By Andrew Hensel | The Center Square

"As such, we were not able to determine whether these vehicles were efficiently utilized for the specific operational needs of the Department, properly maintained, and the mileage properly reported," the report said.

More issues within the department included a lack of control over contracts, with the audit stating that "three of 34 interagency agreements tested, totaling $5,035,963, were not approved in writing by the Chief Executive Officer, Chief Fiscal Officer, and Chief Legal Counsel as required."

IDPH was not able to provide a listing of all the contractual agreements it had entered into during the examination period, resulting in millions of dollars being unaccounted for.

"Thirteen of 34 interagency agreements tested, totaling $20,113,636, were executed subsequent to the performance of services. The agreement execution dates ranged from six to 304 days late," the report said. "Additionally, two of 34 interagency agreements tested, totaling $3,860,159, were not signed by all the required parties. Further, the Department was not able to provide the executed agreements for two of 34 interagency agreements tested, totaling $725,805."

State Rep. Amy Elik, R-Alton, said the department had shown no accountability and that those within the department provided false records.

"It looks like on some of these, everybody was just doing what they wanted to do, and they later made up for the documentation. Some of which was way late," Elik said. "Clearly, they went back and went, 'well, here is what they want to see, so I am going to fill it out.'"

IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra told the commission that the department is using this report to improve their agency.

Officials from the Illinois Department of Public Health during a committee hearing - BlueRoomStream

"We know, and we understand that this compliance audit is an important and necessary tool," Vohra said. "We will use it as we work to move IDPH forward and build a future for public health across our state."

Vohra became IDPH director in August 2022, replacing former IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. Ezike led the agency through the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among other contracts reviewed, IDPH entered into a contract with Reditus Laboratories, LLC, for COVID testing services with an estimated cost of $254.1 million.

Rose said another finding he is concerned with is about long-term care facilities for individuals under age 22 to be known and licensed as medically complex for the developmentally disabled.

"These people right here were the last people to be vaccinated on the last day of the state-run COVID vaccination program," said state Sen. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet. "The program had been running for over three months, and then suddenly, on the last day, they found the people who could actually die from COVID because most of these folks, over half of their population, were on ventilators."

The auditor general's IDPH report for the two years that ended June 2019 had 26 findings compared to 31 in the most recent report. Of the 31 findings in the report for the two years ending June 2021, 21 findings were repeated from the previous report.

IDPH's annual budget is $2.9 billion.

Andrew Hensel reports on issues in Chicago and Statewide. He has been with The Center Square News since April of 2021 and was previously with The Joliet Slammers.