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The former head of procurement for the Maryland Department of Health said he was forced into retirement without explanation, months after refusing an unusual late-night request to send millions of dollars to a South Korean COVID-19 test-kit manufacturer.
He also raised concerns about whether the state followed best practices in its rush to acquire the tests last spring.
In an interview with Maryland Matters, Dana Lee Dembrow, a former member of the House of Delegates, said he was forced to resign by then-Secretary Robert R. Neall on Nov. 23, just one week before Neall himself retired.
The Maryland Department of Health is disputing several key elements of Dembrow鈥檚 account.
Dembrow said he was 鈥渟hocked鈥� and 鈥渄isappointed鈥� to be forced out after more than four years in the post, and asserted that stepping down in the middle of the pandemic was the furthest thing from his mind. He said he was summoned into a conference room and told that if he didn鈥檛 agree to retire, his departure would be recorded as a termination, potentially hurting future job opportunities.
Dembrow鈥檚 firing is the latest development in the saga over COVID-19 test kits the state of Maryland purchased from a South Korean company during the spring, when the coronavirus was still relatively new and states were scrambling to respond to the public health crisis. While Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) announced the procurement of the Korean test kits with great fanfare in mid-April, The Washington Post reported last month 鈥� three days before Dembrow鈥檚 termination 鈥� that the test kits were flawed and never used.
No reason was given for the decision to fire him, Dembrow told Maryland Matters.
鈥淚 know he [Neall] made a mistake here, but so what? Everybody has made mistakes from time to time,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 respect his judgement, or whosever judgment it was. I took it very professionally and just that鈥檚 the way it is.鈥�
Dembrow, 67, said his dismissal came seven months after a surprise, late-night phone call from an aide to then-deputy health secretary Frances B. Phillips. The aide told Dembrow to approve an immediate $6 million payment to a South Korean firm, a request the veteran procurement officer refused.
鈥淚 said, 鈥楴o, I鈥檓 not going to do that. That鈥檚 not how it works,鈥欌�� he recalled. 鈥淚 must have explained to them how to initiate a procurement, that we don鈥檛 pay in advance, that a company needs to be vetted or else we could get ripped off in a scam, that specifications have to be written up and there has to be an assurance of a delivery date and compliance with the specifications, that sort of thing. Basic procurement understanding.鈥�
Dembrow called the demand for the instant payment 鈥渟trange鈥� and 鈥渇ishy,鈥� but he said he chalked it up to inexperience.
鈥淚 think [the aide] was just mistaken about what he should be doing and somebody must have told him the governor wants this order placed right away, because that鈥檚 what was relayed to me. And I said, 鈥榯hat鈥檚 not how it works.鈥欌��
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there was any bad faith involved or any corruption,鈥� Dembrow added. 鈥淚 just think they didn鈥檛 know what to do. You just don鈥檛 do procurement like that. And I think everybody should know that, but some people don鈥檛.鈥�
Dembrow wouldn鈥檛 identify the aide. He said he didn鈥檛 recognize the name of the firm to whom the payment was to be made.
In a statement, the Maryland Department of Health took issue with parts of Dembrow鈥檚 account.
According to the agency, two officials were on the call with the former procurement chief and that 鈥渘o specific funding amount was, or could have been, discussed, nor was Mr. Dembrow given any kind of specific instruction, order, or demand that he do something.鈥�
鈥淭he conversation referenced was a general discussion to understand the procedure for a potential emergency procurement,鈥� the statement added.
The agency said the emergency procurement of LabGenomics kits, capable of performing 500,000 tests, 鈥渨as carried out properly under the emergency procurement process鈥� and 鈥渨ere a commodities procurement made and approved under the Department of General Services鈥� Office of State Procurement.鈥�
The purchase was approved by the state Board of Public Works on Sept. 2, 鈥渁s part of the standard emergency procurement process.鈥�
Told of the agency鈥檚 response, Dembrow insisted his recollection was correct. 鈥淭hey asked for me immediately to transfer substantial funds to a firm in So. Korea to facilitate a purchase transaction & I declined to do so,鈥� he said in a text.
In the interview, Dembrow said that about three weeks after the late-night springtime phone call, Hogan popped up in news reports, on April 18, welcoming a plane-load of LabGenomics coronavirus test kits at Thurgood Marshall BWI Airport.
Dembrow said he assumed the payment request had been approved by someone else in state government.
Asked if he thinks his dismissal was related to his refusal to approve the $6 million payment, Dembrow would only say, 鈥淚 have thought about that a lot.鈥�
A former member of the Maryland Board of Contract Appeals for a decade and an expert in procurement, Dembrow acknowledged he is a stickler for detail.
鈥淚鈥檓 not a yes man. If you want me at a meeting, I鈥檓 not there just to kiss your ass or tell you everything you鈥檙e doing is right,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to ask some tough questions. I鈥檓 going to even play devil鈥檚 advocate and say, 鈥榟aven鈥檛 you thought about this or that?鈥� That was my style. and I think it was very useful to the Department of Health.鈥�
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 just say, 鈥榦kay, you want me to send a check to somebody for $5 million? Here鈥檚 the check.鈥欌��
State pays for replacement test kits
The Hogan administration has drawn criticism for its decision to pay additional $2.5 million to LabGenomics for replacement test kits when the first batch 鈥� in the words of acting Health Secretary Dennis R. Schrader 鈥� turned out to be 鈥渃lunky.鈥�
The initial batch of 500,000 tests cost $9.46 million.
Dembrow told Maryland Matters he recommended that the first batch of kits be sent to the Maryland Laboratories Administration for a reliability check.
鈥淚 thought, before you go through the whole ordeal of the logistical distribution of these things, and getting them in place, let鈥檚 make sure they work. Which is sort of an obvious thing to do. Do they comply with specs and do they work? Are they reliable?鈥� he said.
鈥淭he response I got was: 鈥楧on鈥檛 ask any questions.鈥欌��
In its statement to Maryland Matters, the agency said, 鈥淣o senior MDH official ever said this. If you can provide us with who is alleged to have said it, we can look into the accuracy of this statement as well.鈥�
Dembrow said that if he had handled the initial purchase, the state would not have had to make the second payment.
鈥淭here would have been definite specifications that would have included FDA requirements and a vendor who got that work, to place that order, would have had to agree to comply with those specifications. And if they provided a product that did not comply, we would not pay for it. Period.鈥�
The agency rejected this claim, saying: 鈥淢r. Dembrow had no involvement with, or knowledge of, this procurement.鈥�
The agency said that, as of Friday, 453,129 LabGenomics tests have been utilized as part of the state鈥檚 response to COVID-19.
Because of the lack of a coordinated federal response to COVID-19, Maryland and others states were beset, in the early months of the pandemic, by a frenzied search for ventilators, PPE and tests 鈥� and Dembrow said he is sympathetic about the 鈥渧ery difficult鈥� situation state leaders faced.
He and Neall are both former legislators.
During his 16 years in the House of Delegates, from 1987 to 2003, Dembrow was a lightning rod for controversy. While considered whip-smart and hardworking, he clashed with colleagues and often infuriated legislative leaders. But after losing a reelection bid in 2002 after being arrested for striking his wife 鈥� charges were later dropped 鈥� Dembrow largely faded from public view and spent a decade-and-a-half in low-profile though important government positions.
Dembrow stressed that he continues to admire Neall and still considers him a friend.
鈥淚t was a life-or-death situation and we needed to move quickly,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ther states were jumping in front of us. 鈥� So I don鈥檛 want to question what was done. But I was shocked to learn only this week that apparently we spent all this extra money. I don鈥檛 know if that was justified or not.鈥�
