State Rep. Ford Leaves Loretto Hospital Board Over Reprimands

CHICAGO – State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford resigned from the Loretto Hospital Board of Directors over reprimands that were handed out to hospital executives for the way they handled coronavirus vaccines.

Last week, the hospital board announced that CEO and President George Miller and Chief Operating Officer Dr. Anosh Ahmed were reprimanded for providing vaccines to ineligible people at Trump Tower as well as businesses in the Gold Coast and in certain suburban areas.

Ford announced Tuesday morning that he had stepped down from the Board of Directors after disagreeing how the matter involving the hospital executives were handled.

“I am very disappointed with the recent developments at The Loretto Hospital regarding its use of coronavirus vaccine entrusted to the hospital,” Ford said in the statement. “Yesterday, I submitted my resignation to The Loretto Hospital’s Board Chairman Edward Hogan because I strongly disagreed with how the reprimand of the hospital leadership was handled.”

Ford said in the statement that he will continue to fight for resources for the hospital, which serves as a “safety-net hospital” for the Austin community.

Loretto Hospital’s Board of Directors issued a statement last week saying it had “taken appropriate actions of reprimand” against Ahmed and Miller. City health officials announced last week they withheld doses of the vaccines from the hospital while it investigated the issue.

Ford told multiple media outlets Tuesday that he would not disclose the reprimands that were handed down to hospital executives.

Last week, Block Club Chicago reported that the hospital had held a vaccination event at Geneva Seal, a swanky Gold Coast jewelry and watch shop where Ahmed is said to be a regular customer. The site also reported that the hospital had vaccinated people in the Gold Coast neighborhood as well as at Trump Tower, where both hospital executives live. Ahmed had also told people that he had vaccinated Eric Trump, the son of former President Donald Trump.

Block Club Chicago also reported last week that more than 200 members of Valley Kingdom Ministries received doses of the vaccines. Miller is a founding member of that church and, according to the report, confirmed in a church newsletter that church members had received the vaccines.

Meanwhile, WBEZ reported earlier this week that ineligible Cook County judges and their spouses were offered doses at Loretto Hospital.

"Our city will not tolerate providers who blatantly disregard the Chicago Department of Public Health's distribution guidelines for the COVID-19 vaccine," Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said last week after the Trump Tower controversy came to light. "Unfortunately, in recent days, stories have surfaced alleging providers who had an obligation to follow CDPH guidelines, ignored those restrictions and instead allowed well-connected individuals to jump the line to receive the vaccine instead of using it to service people who were more in need."