Chicago Health Department Seriously Behind in Restaurant Inspections: Audit

CHICAGO, IL — The Chicago Department of Public Health is severely behind when it comes to city restaurant inspections due in large part to the agency being understaffed, according to an audit by the Office of the Inspector General.

But the department does a much better job when it comes to responding to complaint-based inspections or doing re-inspections of restaurants with a history of problems in a timely manner, the report stated.

The audit, which was released Tuesday, looked over the department's performance in 2015 when it came to inspections and offered recommendations. Despite falling behind on inspections, the inspector general's office did not find any evidence that the public's health and safety was endangered, according to Crain's Chicago Business.

"OIG concluded that, during the time period covered by the audit, CDPH did not conduct routine inspections of food establishments as often as required," Inspector General Joe Ferguson wrote in the introduction of the audit. "CDPH has been out of compliance for a number of years; in fact, the Department could not state when, if ever, it last met the regulatory standards in this area."

According to the audit, the department only inspected 43.9 percent of high-risk establishments at least twice as required in 2015. Low-risk establishments fared even worse, with only 24.8 percent of those food businesses being inspected at least once as required in 2014 or '15.

RELATED: Read the Complete Audit Report at the Inspector General's Website

The reason for the department not keeping up with inspections was firmly laid at its serious lack of staffing, according to the audit.

"OIG concludes that CDPH does not have the staff resources necessary to conduct routine inspections as frequently as required under the standards prescribed by state law," the report stated.

The department needs at least 56 more sanitarians if its expected to fulfill the required amount of inspections, the audit recommended. Currently, the department employs 38 sanitarians.

The inspector general's office determined that the understaffing not only puts the public's health at risk, but it also "places at risk millions of dollars in annual state grant funding." The department has continued its grant eligibility thanks to the Illinois Department of Public Health approving a series of "corrective action plans" by the city agency, plans that allow the department to receive grants without meeting all the standards.

"There is no guarantee, however, that IDPH will continue to accommodate the City in this manner," the report stated.

In response to the audit, the city health department said it will heed the inspector general's recommendation to consult with its state counterpart and work out an inspection schedule "that is both practically effective and financially feasible."

photo via Patch archive

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