Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Financial Transparency topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board says it lacks confidence in financial reports, moves to pursue forensic audit
Summary
Board members at a special meeting said they lacked confidence in recent audits and cost reports and discussed hiring forensic auditors to verify past finances; staff described accounting corrections and a plan to present updated numbers after an executive session.
At a special board meeting, Speaker 3, identified in the transcript only as an unidentified board participant, said the board "lacks confidence in the reports that we have at this time" and recommended hiring forensic auditors to review past cost reports and audits.
The board discussed the scope of the review and procedural steps. "We're looking at forensic audit to go back as far as we need to, basically, to be able to look into our finances and for a final time, get to the right numbers that we have," Speaker 3 said. The board voted to hold an executive session and to present the financial update afterward.
Why it matters: board members described persistent uncertainty in the health system's accounting records that they say requires an external, forensic-level review to ensure legal compliance, accurate reporting, and public transparency.
Staff and contractors described current efforts to reconcile accounts. Speaker 4 said the hospital has engaged Anova RCM Group to obtain detail from third-party payers and that the facility has a disproportionate self-pay population. "There have been some growing pains," Speaker 4 said of the contractor, adding that collections from Medicaid and commercial payers had shown an uptick. Speaker 4 also listed recent accounting corrections — including establishing deliberate cutoff times for accounting periods, accruing payables, and truing up payments — and said those changes should allow the board to see accurate November numbers by the next meeting.
Several board members signaled support for the forensic audit and for sharing results "as we legally can." "I am fully in favor of whatever needs to be done with the forensic audit," Speaker 6 said. The board did not specify an auditor, a contract amount, or a timeline for completing the forensic review during the segments provided.
Next steps: the board moved into an executive session under a cited statute (WS 16-4-405) and returned to regular session; the financial update was scheduled after that session. Speakers said they expect to have more information at the next board meeting and to provide updates to the public where permitted by law.
