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Orange County audit found health director dismissed conflict warnings, steered no-bid contracts to allies

An independent forensic audit released August 12, 2026 found that then-Orange County Health Care Agency Director Dr. Clayton Chau repeatedly dismissed internal conflict-of-interest complaints about county subcontracts flowing to a nonprofit where then-Supervisor Andrew Do's daughter worked, and separately hand-selected a friend's pharmacy for a county vaccination contract without competitive bidding. Then-County CEO Frank Kim was also alerted to the conflict but relied on a Do aide's assurances rather than independently verifying it. The audit is the second of four planned phases reviewing roughly $4.3 billion in Orange County contracts from 2019 to 2024.

Jurisdiction
Orange County
Location
Santa Ana, California

Abuses documented

Actors

  • Clayton Chau (Former Director, Orange County Health Care Agency)
  • Orange County Health Care Agency
  • Frank Kim (Former Orange County Chief Executive Officer)
  • Andrew Do (Former Orange County Supervisor)

On August 12, 2026, Orange County released the second phase of an independent forensic audit examining roughly 2,500 county contracts worth $4.3 billion issued between January 2019 and August 2024. The audit, conducted by Weaver and Tidwell and ordered in December 2024, found that then-Orange County Health Care Agency Director Dr. Clayton Chau repeatedly dismissed internal complaints that a nonprofit receiving county subcontracts had a conflict of interest: it was headed by Rhiannon Do, daughter of then-Supervisor Andrew Do. Auditors quoted Chau telling a subordinate who raised the concern that "Supervisor Do was a lawyer and he would know if there was a conflict." The audit separately found Chau hand-selected a friend's business, Mercy Pharmacy, for a county vaccination contract without competitive bidding, and that Andrew Do steered a $500,000 small-business grant to Bridgecreek Realty Investment Corp. with no requirement to document how the money was spent.

Then-County CEO Frank Kim was also alerted to the conflict-of-interest concerns around the Do-connected nonprofit but relied on assurances from Do's chief of staff rather than independently verifying the claim, according to the audit. Supervisor Janet Nguyen said the county's internal auditor has referred former Health Care Agency leadership to the district attorney for possible prosecution, though the DA's office has not confirmed a referral. The audit is Phase 2 of a planned four-phase review; Phase 1 was released in March 2026.

Why we recorded this

Competitive bidding and conflict-of-interest safeguards exist so public contracting serves taxpayers, not the personal and family ties of officials who control it. An independent audit found Orange County's health agency director repeatedly dismissed internal warnings about a nonprofit conflict tied to a sitting supervisor's daughter, then separately steered a vaccination contract to his own friend's business without competitive bidding. This archive records the finding because officials who override the safeguards meant to catch their own conflicts erode the distinction between public office and private favor.

Sources

  1. Audit Reveals More Questionable Spending Under OC Supervisor Imprisoned for Corruption — Voice of OC primary accessed August 17, 2026
  2. Audit of COVID-era contracts in OC finds millions awarded with little accounting — LAist investigative accessed August 17, 2026
  3. Audit Critical of Orange County COVID-19 Contracts — MyNewsLA secondary accessed August 17, 2026

See also