MILWAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Milwaukee County is scrambling to approve a health care plan for its employees after recently discovering the contract with UnitedHealthcare had lapsed. On Monday, Feb. 2, there was an emergency meeting with Milwaukee County's Finance and Personnel Committee to discuss next steps ahead of a vote on Thursday. 

The close to 6,000 people under the health care plan are still covered by UnitedHealthcare, despite the contract expiring. That includes current employees, retirees and dependents. 

Monday morning, county supervisors got to ask questions to the officials about how this all happened, and there weren't many answers. 

Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley said in a statement:

"This was an error by an employee in the department of human resources and as a result, that employee no longer works for Milwaukee County." 

While he didn't identify the employee, two officials and county records indicate the employee was Tony Maze with the county Office of Human Resources. He spoke at last week's committee on finance meeting. 

Maze's supervisor, Margo Franklin, said he's been in this position since 2018, and the responsibility of the health care contract had fallen on only him for the last seven-and-a-half years. 

Tony Maze CBS 58

Franklin took accountability for Maze's actions, saying he should have asked for guidance months ago. 

Timelines provided by the audit services division show they corresponded with Maze working to negotiate "audit language" and didn't hear from him after September until they found out the contract lapsed just last month. 

"Our sworn oath to the people has been made almost impossible," said Kathleen Vincent, Milwaukee County supervisor and vice chairperson for Milwaukee County's Committee on Personnel. "How is the county exec and our board supposed to deal with the most important issues if we cannot trust the staff to be proactive and honest?"

The co-chair of the personnel committee said she's committed to overhauling major and minor projects as well as calling for an audit of all contracts passed through HR to ensure there have been no missteps. 

Meanwhile, the chief human resources officer said she'll prioritize the escalation process and will include Milwaukee County moving forward. 

The finance committee moved to recommend the contract. The whole board will vote on Thursday.