House and Senate Oversight committees request audit

State Rep. Matt Hall (R-Marshall) today praised the Office of Auditor General (OAG) for scheduling an expedited follow up performance review for the Grand Rapids Home for Veteran after its June 2019 audit showed questionable accounting practices resulting in $300,000 from residents’ accounts being “severely misplaced.”

The June 2019 audit’s objectives were to assess the sufficiency of the Home’s provision of member care services, controls over pharmaceuticals and controls over selected business office operations. It found two material and four reportable conditions. The material conditions included the need to do more to prevent unauthorized access to veteran accounts and records and unreconciled differences in a veteran’s subsidiary account and corresponding external bank account balances. Among the reportable conditions was the untimely administration and refills of prescription medication.

Hall, chair of the House Oversight Committee, called for the expedited performance audit following a joint hearing conducted by the House and Senate Oversight Committees in June. Sen. Ed McBroom, chair of the Senate Oversight Committee, joined Hall in leading the hearing. Afterwards, the two legislators submitted a formal letter to the OAG with the request.

The OAG typically waits 15 to 18 months to follow up on prior audit’s findings, but Hall wanted answers sooner.

“I was deeply concerned that money from veteran accounts was not accounted for and prescriptions were not refilled in a timely manner,” Hall said. “It’s for this reason that I called on the OAG for an expedited follow up review to confirm that meaningful steps are being taken to rectify the concerns outlined in the performance audit.”

This is the latest following a February 2016 audit that found insufficient care, staffing, and improper administration of medication.

The Veterans Affairs Agency and Department of Technology, Management and Budget testified in the joint committee meeting that the material conditions found in the June 2019 report have been fixed. To ensure that veterans were receiving proper care and their finances were being treated appropriately, Rep. Hall and Sen. McBroom asked the OAG for the expedited audit.

Hall said the OAG recently supplied him with a letter notifying him and the House Oversight Committee that the office would begin its expedited review in September 2019. The report and its findings are scheduled to be issued in January 2020.

The OAG defines a material condition as one “that could impair the ability of management to operate a program in an effective and efficient manner and/or could adversely affect the judgement of an interested person concerning the effectiveness and efficiency of the program.”

The less serious reportable condition is defined as “an opportunity for improvement within the context of the audit objectives; a deficiency in internal control that is significant within the context of the audit objectives; all instances of fraud; illegal acts unless they are inconsequential within the context of the audit objectives; significant violations of provision of contracts or grant agreements; and significant abuse that has occurred or is likely to have occurred.”