A Dozen Counties Criticized OptumServe for Vaccine Clinic Problems, Documents Show
California agreed to pay OptumServe up to $221 million during the pandemic to coordinate and operate dozens of vaccination sites.
But the health care company’s work in at least a dozen counties has been plagued by miscommunication and staffing shortages.
Officials from at least 12 counties complained to the state Department of Public Health about delays and other problems with OptumServe, saying that the problems hampered their ability to get shots into arms, according to state documents obtained through a Public Records Act request.
The company has fallen far short of the up to 100,000 daily vaccine doses it told the state in its contracts that it could deliver. It has helped administer about 370,000 doses since January just 1.1% of California’s nearly 34 million during that span. At several vaccine sites, OptumServe failed to deliver the minimum 420 doses it pledged to distribute each day
SACRAMENTO
Healthcare advocates in California are pushing back against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget plan released last week, saying it follows a dangerous pattern of underfunding local public health agencies despite glaring funding inadequacies exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health leaders asked that $200 million in ongoing funding be included in the state budget being negotiated for the fiscal year beginning July 1, but Newsom’s spending plan calls instead for a $3-million study to determine how much public health programs need so that the money can be included next year.
Health advocates and some lawmakers say the plan leaves a gap in funding that jeopardizes the work of public health agencies in communities across the state.
Health advocates and some lawmakers say the plan leaves a gap in funding that jeopardizes the work of public health agencies in communities across the state.
Monterey County spokeswoman Maia Carroll said 380 people did not show up for their appointment Saturday, which accounts for almost 10 percent of the 4,000 appointments made.