Former PPE Czar of Oklahoma appointed to Health Care Authority board
OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) - In the spring of 2020, Governor Kevin Stitt appointed Gino DeMarco as the PPE Czar while the state entered the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Tuesday, Governor Stitt appointed the same man to take the place of a physician on the Oklahoma Health Care Authority board.
The appointment comes amid concerns the governor got rid of the only two physicians on the board. The OHCA is the state agency that oversees Medicaid in the state, something Governor Stitt has pursued privatizing in recent months.
DeMarco appears to be the go-to guy for the Governor.
In April and May of 2020, DeMarco secured large shipments of PPE that were stockpiled at a warehouse in Oklahoma City.
Some procurements, though, came with controversy, lawsuits, and unfulfilled orders.
On April 29th, 2020, then-Attorney General Mike Hunter sent an investigative audit request to the State Auditor. The request was to look into the Department of Health, and the spending the agency made at the start of the pandemic.
Later on, Hunter was tasked with trying to return $2 million in hydroxychloroquine that was purchased at the beginning of the pandemic.
In January this year, Hunter filed a petition in district court requesting $1.8 million be paid by PPE Supplies LLC. Hunter alleged the company failed to deliver four orders of PPE the State Department of Health ordered in March 2020.
Court records show the department made a 50% deposit of $2.12 million for 1.2 million masks. The masks never showed up.
In April 2021, Hunter filed a lawsuit against A&K Distributors, saying they failed to deliver an $890,000 order of ventilators to the State Department of Health in June of 2020.
Along with DeMarco, Governor Stitt also appointed Susan Dell'Osso to the OHCA board.