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Councilman requests investigation into Pugh's dealings with Kaiser Permanente

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BALTIMORE, Md. — Councilman Ryan Dorsey has requested an investigation into Kaiser Permanente's contract with the city after news of the company's contribution towards Mayor Pugh's book "Healthy Holly."

READ MORE: Kaiser Permanente funds purchased thousands of 'Healthy Holly' books

The health insurance provider purchased about 20,000 "Healthy Holly" books from Mayor Catherine Pugh's Health Holly LLC. They made multiple orders of the book between 2015 and 2018.

Councilman Dorsey said the investigation is in an effort to acquire information on the contracts the company has in insuring city employees. He said while Pugh sat on the Board of Estimates to approve Kaiser Permanente's $48,000,000 contract with the city, around the same time she profited $114,000 from the company for the purchase of her books.

"We deserve to know that our contracts are the best they can be, and that if anything untoward were to come to light that, families will not lose health coverage," said Councilman Dorsey on Twitter.

Councilman Dorsey addressed a request to the Inspector General and the Director of Human Resources also asking if the health coverage of employees will be impacted due to the investigation. His concern was the possibility of the investigation leading to the Board of Estimates' suspension and the termination of the contract which can affect continuing health coverage for city employees.

Governor Larry Hogan has also requested an investigation on Pugh's deal with the University of Maryland Medical System regarding funds given to her for the purchase of her children's book, "Healthy Holly."

READ MORE: Check out WMAR-2 News "'Healthy Holly' Controversy" page for all of our reporting on the developing story