Hospital Exec Linked To Private School Where Staff Was Vaccinated

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) - There are concerns Thursday about a possible connection between a hospital executive and a private school that managed to get its staff vaccinated for COVID-19.

It comes one day after our Kristine Lazar reported the Wesley School in North Hollywood sent out an email — saying its staff was provided the shots by Dignity Health Northridge Medical Center.

Now, there are questions whether the hospital's Chief Financial Officer Doug Brown has a child who's enrolled at the private school.

His wife's Facebook page has a picture of their child wearing Wesley School shirt.

"I think a lot of people don't want to believe it. But it seems to be true," said Jenna Schwartz, LAUSD parent and advocate.

CBSLA's Jeff Nguyen reached out to Dignity Health for comment on whether Mr. Brown is connected to the school, but we were given the same statement that was sent for yesterday's report that read in part:

"Recently, we had vaccines available and reached out to schools and daycare centers in the Valley to offer vaccinations to educators, targeting those 65 and older."

Parents at public schools say they want to make sure vaccine distribution is equitable and that under-resourced communities aren't left behind.

In a tweet, LAUSD said Dignity Health offered 100 slots in the vaccination program.

But the district elected to not participate because county "rules allow vaccinations to be offered only to individuals ages 65 or older and certain other categories."

The L.A. County Department of Public says it's looking into how some schools have been able to get the vaccine.

Its director, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, believes it'll be a couple of weeks before teachers and school employees in the county will start to get vaccinated.

Nguyen called and emailed the head of the Wesley School and emailed Doug Brown to comment on the apparent connection, but there was no immediate response.