Onslow County Hospital Authority audit returns clean opinion; charity care, liabilities noted

Christopher Cunningham, a senior manager with audit firm BDO, told the Onslow County Board of Commissioners on March 4 that he issued an unqualified (clean) opinion on the Onslow County Hospital Authority’s financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2025.

Cunningham said the audit covered comparative figures including a nine-month prior period ended June 30, 2024, which can make year-to-year revenue changes appear amplified. He said the audit was performed under U.S. generally accepted auditing standards and government auditing standards and that a single-audit compliance review was still ongoing but on track to finish this month.

“The audit was extremely clean,” Cunningham said, adding that management and hospital staff were cooperative throughout the process. He highlighted that charity-care charges reduced revenue by about $17 million, with the estimated cost of providing that care near $5 million. He also noted a postemployment defined-benefit medical plan liability of approximately $7 million and long-term FHA mortgage bank loan balances of about $39 million as of June 30, 2025.

Cunningham walked the board through standard financial statements — balance sheet, statement of revenues and expenses and statement of cash flows — and said current assets exceeded current liabilities, indicating the authority could meet short-term obligations. He told commissioners there were no material misstatements or unusual policies and that new accounting standards did not have a material impact on the statements.

Board members did not request substantive follow-up during the presentation. The auditor praised hospital staff for cooperation and said the single-audit review of federal programs remained on schedule.

The audit presentation concluded with no formal vote recorded; materials and the audit report were provided to the board as part of the meeting packet.