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Arkansas health officials defend COVID-era meal purchases, say meals were operationally necessary and are seeking CARES reimbursement
Summary
Department of Health officials told lawmakers meals were provided to staff on 24/7 emergency-response duty to sustain operations, acknowledged public concern over line-item charges cited in a news report, and said the department is assembling documentation and pursuing reimbursements to CARES funds.
Arkansas Department of Health officials told the State Agencies committee that meals purchased during the height of the COVID-19 response were provided to personnel who worked in a level-1 emergency operations center operating 24/7 and were not an ordinary catering expense.
Greg Brown, acting incident commander for the department's COVID response, described an operation that at times included nearly 200 staff, 50 epidemiologists and 50…
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