Baltimore health providers bought mayor’s books

BALTIMORE (AP) — Kaiser Permanente says it paid Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh more than $100,000 for about 20,000 copies of her “Healthy Holly” children’s books during a period when it sought a city contract.

The Baltimore Sun reports Kaiser confirmed Monday that it paid about $114,000 for the books from 2015 to 2018.

Pugh became mayor in 2016 and the next year, Baltimore’s spending board, which is controlled by the mayor, awarded a $48 million contract to the Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Mid-Atlantic States Inc. Kaiser previously held that contract.

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, another city health provider, confirms it bought Pugh’s books for $14,500 in 2011 and 2014, from Associated Black Charities, a nonprofit that manages the Children and Youth Fund.

Neither Pugh nor her attorney could be reached for comment.