Doctor Tied To Loretto Hospital Had His Family Vaccinated With West Side Hospital's Supply In The Suburbs

CHICAGO — A doctor with close ties to Loretto Hospital used shots from the West Side hospital’s supply to vaccinate his family members in the suburbs in January.

The doctor, Ali Ahmed, runs Affinity Health, which oversees COVID-19 clinical trials at Loretto. The hospital has been embroiled in controversy in recent weeks amid reports it improperly vaccinated people with ties to Loretto leaders — including CEO George Miller’s suburban church and a steak house, jewelry shop and the luxury Trump Tower condo building frequented by former COO Dr. Anosh Ahmed.

There is no know relation between Ali Ahmed and Anosh Ahmed. Anosh Ahmed resigned last week amid the controversy.

Loretto provided Ali Ahmed with doses for about 10 of his relatives, sources said. He administered the shots to people at his sister’s home in suburban Bloomingdale, about 20 miles away from Loretto Hospital. The shots were administered on Jan. 29, when people were still desperate for shots in Chicago.

In a statement, Loretto spokeswoman Becky Carroll said the doctor made a request to vaccinate a “terminally ill woman” and went on to say he is not an employee of Loretto. Terminally ill people were not eligible for vaccines at the time of the request.

“A request by a hospital partner to vaccinate a terminally ill woman and nine other individuals, including her family members, was made in late January and was approved by a former executive who is no longer employed at Loretto,” Carroll said in a statement. “While information provided at the time deemed that these individuals were eligible per city vaccination guidelines, Loretto is no longer approving off-site visits that aren’t either hosted by the hospital or community partners and organizations.”

Former COO Anosh Ahmed “solely” approved these vaccinations, Carroll said. She would not confirm that those vaccinated were related to Ali Ahmed, citing HIPPA privacy laws.

Ali Ahmed told Loretto Hospital officials the 10 individuals fit the city guidelines, but hospital officials did not say whether they met the criteria.

“Loretto is no longer approving off-site visits that aren’t either hosted by the hospital or community partners and organizations,” Carroll said.

At a Monday news conference, Mayor Lori Lightfoot again slammed Loretto officials for failing to own up to the multiple vaccine violations, as more have been discovered by Chicago news outlets nearly every day for two weeks.

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