Report details disarray at Colorado Springs clinic that wasted thousands of COVID-19 vaccine doses

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Patients crammed together with no social distancing, unmarked syringes, "chaotic" directions, and medical charts possibly falsified -- these are a few of the problems noted by an El Paso County Public Health employee who visited Dr. Moma's Health & Wellness Clinic in Colorado Springs.

A new report obtained by 13 Investigates outlines some of the issues that patients had previously reported at Dr. Moma's. The clinic made headlines after the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment announced that more than 7,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine at Dr. Moma's had to be thrown away because of improper procedures.

EPC Public Health previously told KRDO they sent an employee to inspect the facility after receiving numerous complaints from patients. 13 Investigates filed a Colorado Open Records Act request for information about what health officials found when they visited the clinic and obtained the inspector's notes on Friday. Some callers questioned whether Dr. Moma's was a valid vaccine provider. The clinic is run by a nurse, not a medical doctor.

According to the EPC Public Health employee, they visited the clinic with another employee last week after finding that 1,472 individual appointments were scheduled for one day. The clinic is located at the ground floor of the Satellite Hotel, near Academy Boulevard, and the employees noted that Sylvienash Moma, the proprietor of the clinic, was "very cordial and willing to show us her clinic."

Once inside, the employees saw a long hallway with several procedure rooms. Inside one of the rooms, the employees noted a desk with several silver trays "loaded with filled syringes in a pile, and a bowl with vaccine in it," according to the notes. They said none of the people inside the room were wearing masks, and there were no labels on any of the syringes. The employee also didn't see any temperature logs or vaccine coolers/refrigerators.

The public health employees saw three rooms with patients getting vaccines, but the scene was described as "very confusing and chaotic," with people going both directions in the hallway connecting the rooms.

Patients sat right next to each other to get a vaccine, according to the public health employee's notes, and some "4 x 6 rooms would have up to eight people in them."

There was a separate waiting area for patients to sit if they needed a 30-minute observation time, but the public health employee said "there were no medical staff in that area and no one watching, so people left when they wanted."

For those who didn't need a 30-minute observation time, the oversight was even worse, according to the notes.

Patients were told to go sit in their cars in the parking lot for 15 minutes, but the public health employee asked Moma who was observing them. Moma said there was a "nurse with an epi pen driving around," according to the notes. However, the public health employee noted they didn't see anyone driving around, and Moma wasn't able to get in touch with the nurse when asked if they could speak with them.

"We witnessed most patients driving away immediately," the public health employee noted.

When the employees returned to Public Health, the inspector saw a discrepancy in doses and then looked through several patient records that showed only one vaccinator listed: Moma.

"It appears that the charting was taking place at the registration area before the vaccine was given," the notes said. "No other vaccinators were listed in Prepmod for this clinic. It appears to be falsified charting."

Moma told KRDO she would speak to the press during a conference on Monday and added that she would answer any questions. We'll continue to investigate this story and bring you the latest on Monday.

The state has urged people who were vaccinated at the clinic to get revaccinated.