Auditor issues clean opinion for Onslow Hospital Authority financial statements

Andrea Spitrini, an engagement partner with accounting firm BDO USA, told the Onslow County Board of Commissioners on Feb. 3 that BDO issued an unmodified (clean) opinion on the Onslow Hospital Authority’s financial statements for the nine-month period ended June 30, 2024.

Spitrini said the audit was conducted under generally accepted auditing standards in the United States and governmental auditing standards. She said the single-audit federal compliance portion also received a clean opinion and that no material findings were reported that would require written documentation to the hospital authority’s schedule of federal awards.

She outlined key items in the audit package: the balance-sheet presentation showed current assets exceeding current liabilities; the statement of revenues reported a margin of roughly 4 percent for that period; disclosures included charity-care policies and post-employment medical plans; and charges foregone for charity care “approximated over $16,000,000.”

Spitrini said the audit firm noted no significant or unusual transactions, no alternative accounting treatments, and no material misstatements requiring correction. She also told commissioners the firm completed the audit and the single-audit submissions on time and received standard management representation from hospital executives.

Commissioners asked a clarifying question about the auditor’s language; one commissioner said he had “not heard an auditor say ‘relatively clean’ before,” and Spitrini confirmed the formal opinion is a clean opinion.

No formal action was required of the board during the presentation; the audit report was presented for the board’s information.