Regulators terminated Dr. Moma Health and Wellness Clinic in Colorado Springs as a COVID-19 vaccine provider, the state announced Friday morning, six months after its storage practices were placed under investigation. The state’s Board of Nursing will now review the clinic to determine if it violated state law, officials said.

Dr. Moma, a medical spa, has been suspended from administering vaccines since April 9, when the state Department of Public Health and Environment discovered “irregularities” in how the clinic stored and handled vaccines. Regulators also expressed concern about documentation and the clinic’s procedures for observing patients post-vaccination. Thousands of people vaccinated at the clinic were told in the spring that they’d need to be restart the entire process, and the Colorado National Guard seized thousands of COVID-19 vaccine doses after the clinic was suspended.

According to a Friday morning press release, the state’s months-long investigation determined that the clinic failed to properly store, handle and monitor the temperature of its COVID vaccines; did not observe practices including social distancing and masking requirements within the clinic; and failed to comply with billing requirements. 

The clinic’s phone number led directly to an automated response and answering machine Friday morning. A message left by the Gazette was not immediately returned.

A spokesperson for the state Department of Public Health and Environment said in an email that additional reviews by other state regulators will follow next, as will a review by federal officials. The clinic is still an approved provider of COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatments; that approval is provided by the the federal government, and the state health department said it’s recommended to regulators that they stop working with Dr. Moma.

“The Colorado Board of Nursing will review the determination and information provided by CDPHE to ascertain whether the licensed providers at this clinic have violated provisions of the Nurse Practice Act,” the spokesperson wrote.

The clinic’s practitioner, Sylvienash Moma, is not a medical doctor. She has a doctorate in nursing practice. 

This is the first time the state has terminated a provider’s ability to administer the COVID-19 vaccine, the health department told the Gazette. The initial inquiry into the clinic began after the El Paso County Public Health officials noticed a large number of appointments scheduled within the business. After a site visit, inspectors discovered poor social distancing, inconsistent mask use, unlabeled vaccine doses, a lack of observation for patients immediately after vaccination, and improperly stored vaccine vials. 

In April, Scott Bookman – the state’s COVID-19 incident commander – said officials were “incredibly disappointed” in the clinic. He said the state was stepping up its inspections and oversight elsewhere “to ensure … that this doesn’t happen again.”