Internal control failures caused San Mateo County to leave surplus personal protective equipment and cleaning equipment for COVID-19 out in the open, an independent investigation found.
A report released Thursday afternoon concluded that boxes containing protective equipment, primarily non-medical grade gowns, goggles and face shields, as well as cleaning supplies were stacked outdoors, with no definitive timeline on how the surplus safety equipment would ultimately be distributed.
Because of this failure of controls, cardboard boxes containing approximately $7.1 million in protective equipment became soaked during an October 2021 storm while stored in a parking lot at the San Mateo County Event Center.
While the independent investigator's report lists the value of the protective equipment at $7.5 million, since the conclusion of the investigation, the County has been able to confirm that the number is closer to $7.1 million, the county noted in a statement.
"What is clear is that this should not have happened. What is equally clear is that we are taking the necessary steps to make sure that we will put checks and balances in place so that this never happens again," said Mike Callagy, county executive officer.
To that end, he pointed out, "we hired Management Partnersto review best practices in the industry that will be reviewed and implemented once we have those findings".
Callagy ordered a thorough inquiry by an outside independent investigator into why and how the protective equipment was ignored in the rain.
In response, the county hired James Lianides, former superintendent of Sequoia Union High School District, who has decades of experience dealing with large organizations and purchasing practices.
Lianides interviewed county employees and Event Center staff, reviewed documents and conducted site visits.
In his report, Lianides found that months after the pandemic, there was little demand for non-medical grade protective equipment and cleaning supplies purchased by the county.
Thus, the County, lacking its own storage space, had contracted with the Event Center to store surplus supplies in its Fiesta Hall at a monthly cost of approximately $100,000.
Meanwhile, "the protective equipment that was determined to be most valuable, such as N95 masks and gloves, was moved to Sequoia Hall," according to the report.
Sequoia Hall, a separate, covered space in the Event Center, "was filled to capacity with the most valuable and sought-after security equipment."
While the County owns the Event Center land and buildings, it leases them to a non-profit organization governed by a separate board of directors, which, in turn, manages the Event Center and charges all users, including the County, rent for use of the facilities.
In the summer of 2021, the county agreed to move surplus supplies from Fiesta Hall to a nearby uncovered parking lot to make way for a planned conference. County staff "explored whether excess protective equipment could be donated," but found "little interest," the report states.
The rains are here
In his report, Lianides acknowledges that the county's rush to organize COVID-19 booster clinics and mass vaccination clogged the decision-making system "while other more immediate priorities took precedence."
After first deeming the boxes a total loss, a subsequent review found that the individual plastic wrap saved $128,152 in supplies after inspection and cleaning.
Since January, more than 90 nonprofit organizations and other government entities have received some of these supplies of protective gear for use at food banks, nursing homes, veterans groups, churches and shelters.
The remainder has been moved to storage. The county is working with non-profit agencies to distribute the remaining usable supplies.
In his conclusion, Lianides recommends to the County, among other things:
- Maintain the centralization of the decision-making process through a clear delimitation of responsibilities and accountability;
- Improve coordination and integration between internal departments responsible for emergency planning and response;
- Provide county staff with annual training and review of federal and state regulations related to emergency management;
- Ensure that the process for making major decisions in an emergency situation addresses all possible consequences of actions taken; and,
- Hire a warehousing, tracking and distribution expert and acquire tracking tools and software.
"San Mateo County was a leader during the pandemic, but we should have done better here. We will learn from this to make sure it never happens again," Callagy said.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has caused and continues to cause so many people pain. All county employees, regardless of their roles, are also disaster service workers and have served their community to the best of their ability during these difficult times. We had a glitch in the system, and ... that system will be fixed," he added.
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