A Dallas County surveillance effort intended to stop the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases was placed on probation for failing to track the sexual partners of people with known infections.
The tracking effort, which began in September, is under investigation by the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Dallas County district attorney’s office.
The investigations were first reported Monday by KXAS-TV (NBC5). The station found that “workers took names of people who tested negative and listed them as past sexual contacts in the files of people who tested positive for syphilis.”
The state was paying $2 million to Dallas County to improve STD prevention efforts in 49 counties in East and North Texas.
Under the program’s guidelines, county workers were required to interview identified sex partners within three days of a newly confirmed syphilis case, for example. Partners were supposed to be warned of their possible exposure to the disease and encouraged to be tested and treated.
The program’s funding was cut by $118,137 as a result of its six-month probation. The state also demanded the removal of one county worker, LaShonda Worthey, who managed the program. She declined to comment.
Worthey and two other workers “entered false data into [the county’s] STD management information system,” according to the state investigation.
The state’s report, obtained by NBC5, also faulted Worthey for giving “directives to ensure the names were uploaded in order to improve the agency’s performance numbers.”
Zachary Thompson, director of Dallas County Health and Human Services, declined to comment Tuesday after the weekly commissioners court meeting.
Later, Thompson said in a statement released by his office, “All allegations of employee misconduct are taken seriously. If allegations are substantiated, employees will be held accountable for their actions in accordance with Dallas County personnel guidelines for discipline.”
Thompson said his department has taken “appropriate action” to comply with the program’s probationary status. But “we will not release any specific information related to personnel matters,” he added.
Commissioner John Wiley Price faulted the size of the surveillance effort for any subsequent problems. He said he believes “the mistakes were not intentional on the part of the staff.”
The program has 33 staff positions, although a dozen were unfilled, according to the county.
County Judge Clay Jenkins said the workers who were removed were reassigned to other jobs. They will undergo “due process” to determine their future employment by the county, he said.
Other staffers will be required to attend training on integrity and ethics in the workplace in order to continue in the program, said the state’s letter, which was sent to Thompson late last month.
Workers also must review patient privacy laws and be monitored by state workers.
The state reserved the right to terminate the program after six months if changes are not verified.
