GRAND RAPIDS — in a statement earlier this week, CBS News denied the claims but now the president and CEO of Cherry Health says after an internal investigation, they have learned a few staff members were encouraged to pull their cars up in the testing line to show how busy the site can get.
in part of a statement cherry health President and CEO Tasha Blackmon said it was done with the intention of protecting patient privacy since many of the patients declined to be filmed for HIPAA reasons.
She went on to say the manner in which this situation is being portrayed is unfair and inaccurate.
Here is the full statement from Cherry Health:
After conducting an internal investigation, we learned that a few staff were encouraged to pull their cars up in the testing line to provide a visual backdrop showing how busy the testing site can get. This was done with the intention of protecting patient privacy since many of the patients scheduled for a COVID-19 test on that day declined to be filmed for HIPAA reasons. The individual responsible for this mistake has accepted responsibility and expressed deep remorse for this unfortunate situation.
I can confirm definitively that no fake tests have ever been administered at our testing site. Our internal controls require us to track Personal Protective Equipment and COVID-19 testing volumes daily. We have both registration data and testing results from a third-party vendor to back up all testing provided through our COVID-19 drive through testing site. In addition, all testing data is sent to local, state and national databases for tracking purposes.
While good faith mistakes were made to protect patient privacy, the manner in which this situation is being portrayed is unfair and inaccurate. Maintaining our integrity as a trusted organization that provides quality care to the underserved people of our communities is our top priority. We are saddened that this has been called into question, but have every confidence that the truth will prevail.
-Tasha Blackmon, President and CEO, Cherry Health
