by: Leon Hendrix
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Members of Cherry Health's board of directors are actively investigating and promising transparency following allegations that the organization staged a COVID-19 testing line for a news crew filming a story that aired nationwide.
As you heard on WOOD TV and WOOD Radio, Cherry Health came under fire this week after a Project Veritas hidden camera exposé purported that video of lines for Cherry’s COVID-19 test site was staged with employees to make the site look busier than it was. The report’s segments filmed in Grand Rapids aired on “CBS This Morning” last Friday.'
After allegations from Project Veritas were made public, CBS News management immediately responded, saying, "CBS News did not stage anything at the Cherry Health facility. Any suggestion to the contrary is 100% false."
Officials with Cherry Health also released a statement in which its CEO denied that she directed staff to line up for the video in question. Her statement stopped short of refuting CBS’ claims and the organization didn’t respond to questions about whether someone other than the CEO directed any staging.
Cherry Health’s board president, Scott Alfree, told News 8 Thursday morning, “It is painful. This whole thing is unfairly calling into question the core values of Cherry Health.
“Many of the individuals involved with Project Veritas interactions are coming forward to say they’ve been misquoted and taken out of context,” Alfree said. “The clips have been edited in a way that was not reflective of their true comments.”
Alfree said the board hasn’t yet determined exactly what happened or whether Cherry Health team members were involved in any staging.
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