Philadelphia Health Department suffers loss

By Jen McShane
Collegian Staff
October 3, 2007

It’s been a rough two weeks for the Philadelphia Health Department. Starting Sept. 20, the Health Department lost a commissioner and discovered a loss of $3 million worth of equipment and poor record keeping.

The downward spiral for the Philadelphia Health Department began when it was revealed that a department employee was working simultaneously for the Washington D.C. and Philadelphia departments.

George Zameska was in charge of restaurant inspections and food-related health issues in Philadelphia. He was also performing a similar job in Washington. Zameska’s schedule allowed him to work one day a week in Philadelphia and five days a week in Washington. His schedule kept the city of Philadelphia from hiring a full time employee for his position. Meanwhile, Zameska was collecting equivalent paychecks from both cities and tax payers.

Zameska worked for five months before either city figured it out. The Health Department in Philadelphia caught on after receiving an anonymous tip that an employee was working dual jobs.

“We received a report from the inspector general which raised serious concerns about employee conduct and managerial supervision in our department of public health,” said city Managing Director Loree Jones.

It is believed that former health commissioner of Philadelphia Carmen Paris knew of the situation. She, as well as Zameska, was fired Sept. 20.

With the release of Paris, John Domzalski took over as health commissioner of the city. Within days of his takeover, it was discovered that the city’s Health Department is in disarray. Poor record keeping has led to mismanagement of prescription drugs. It is unknown whether prescriptions are being delivered, charged correctly or missing because of drug theft. The city currently handles $7.6 million in prescription drugs.

Another issue with prescription drugs was found when six bottles of outdated prescriptions were discovered on a shelf. “This,” said Domzalski, “is a dangerous practice that must come to an end.”

The final issue discovered within the department was that over $3 million worth of equipment is missing. Since 1992, an estimated 2,044 items are unaccounted for, including 141 computers, 112 hospital beds and 62 wheelchairs. These items may have been stolen, or the department could have discarded them without record.

mcshanej2@lasalle.edu