A promised “fix” to the CDC’s VAMS website, where residents were told to sign up for the coronavirus vaccine, failed to materialize, leaving many New Hampshire residents unable to book appointments. As a result, Governor Chris Sununu announced that the state will be setting up its own appointment website.
Residents who had received their first vaccination and attempted to schedule a second round found that the federal website was only listing appointments two and three months out, rather than the 21 days recommended for the Pfizer vaccine and the 28 days recommended for the Moderna vaccine.
The state said there were plenty of appointments open but they were not showing up on the website. They promised the problem would be fixed by Tuesday and urged people who had scheduled appointments in March and April to cancel them and rebook them on one of the earlier dates. Those who tried to do so, however, often found that no earlier dates were listed and they either had to rebook later appointments or they were totally blocked and were left without any date for their second dose.
“All citizens in Phase 1B will be able to receive their second dose within a week of the recommended date, which is well within the parameters that the CDC recommends,” Sununu said. “The state will meet these deadlines.”
Mid-State Looking Into Denial Of Care
Mid-State Health Center is looking into an allegation that its Bristol office denied care to a child because the mother has a medical condition that prevents her from wearing a face mask. Instead, she wears a face shield, and says that it has been acceptable at that office in the past.
Mid-State’s Chief Executive Officer Robert MacLeod responded to an inquiry about the incident:
“Thank you for bringing this situation to our attention and extending us the opportunity to respond.
“Providing high-quality patient care is Mid-State’s utmost priority and we take all patient grievances very seriously. If they do arise, an internal quality control process is followed for handling them. Of course we are unable to discuss the specificities of any patient visit as this would be a violation of federal privacy laws, but we assure you that we have begun an internal review of this situation which will allow us to collect all perspectives and facts surrounding what occurred.
“As a health care facility, we take mask wearing very seriously to slow the spread of coronavirus, and we take our lead from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Mid-State’s mask wearing policy was put in place to protect everyone — our patients, our staff, and our community alike. We consider it our responsibility not to jeopardize anyone’s safety or health, especially while in our office.
“Mid-State’s mission is to ensure all members of the community have access to primary health care, behavioral health and dental services regardless of their ability to pay. We strive daily to deliver on that promise so all patients have access to the care they need. While this situation is certainly unfortunate, we will be performing an internal review of all that occurred in hopes of resolving this individual’s concern.”
Municipal Transparency
Representative Gregg Hough is sponsoring a bill in the New Hampshire Legislature to require city councils to hold a public hearing and discuss proposed property purchases before completing those transactions.
The legislative bill came in response to the Laconia City Council’s secret purchases of property without any public acknowledgment of the spending. Most recently, the city spent $1.14 million to acquire the St. Joseph rectory and school for city parking, hiding the purchase by listing it in the budget as “XYZ.” It had previously bought land near Pickerel Pond for a canoe launching area for $342,000 without disclosing it to the public.
The state’s Right-To-Know Law, RSA 91-A, allows municipalities to discuss purchases in non-public session, but other city and town councils make the final vote in public. Derry Town Administrator Dave Caron, speaking on Hough’s bill, objected to it as being too strict, but he and Cordell Johnson, the governmental affairs counsel at the New Hampshire Government Center, agreed that the actual decision on property purchases should be made in public session.
Laconia Mayor Andrew Hosmer and City Manager Scott Myers maintain that they acted legally by putting the money in the budget, even though “XYZ” did not indicate what the expenditure was for and Myers had warned the councilors not to discuss that line item while talking about the budget.
The House Judiciary Committee, which held the hearing on Hough’s HB 232, will meet on Feb. 16 in private session to discuss and make a recommendation on the bill.
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