LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A state auditor says the Arkansas Department of Health overpaid the Arkansas Trauma Education and Research Foundation by $655,886 between February 2012 and June 2015.
The department paid the foundation almost $2.5 million for estimated costs rather than the $1.83 million actually needed to provide trauma training courses for hospitals, nurses and doctors, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported (https://bit.ly/2fnQqql ).
Sara Sherrod, staff auditor for Arkansas Legislative Audit, told the Legislative Joint Auditing Committee on Friday that the department’s contracts with the foundation also required that equipment acquired by the foundation and reimbursed through the contract was the department’s property. But the foundation sold a piece of equipment for $45,000 last year that it purchased in 2012 for $74,350.
The foundation also conducted trauma leadership conferences in August 2013 and 2014 at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale, Missouri, even though the majority of the attendees and their families were from Arkansas, Sherrod said. She said the state was the foundation’s largest client and its primary source of revenue.
Although the department denied a request to increase the amount in the contract for a future trauma conference in northwest Arkansas, the foundation still held a conference this May and requested reimbursement that has not been approved or paid. Vendors are still owed $115,380 for the conference, she said.
Under state law, no public servant shall use or attempt to use his position to secure special privileges or exemptions, accept employment or engage in any public or professional activity that might require the disclosure of confidential information or disclose any such information for personal gain or benefit, according to Sherrod.
The Department of Health notified the foundation in May that its contract would not be renewed for fiscal 2017, which started July 1, and the foundation ceased operations over the summer due to its inability to raise sufficient income to pay outstanding obligations totaling $174,322, Sherrod said. Legislative Auditor Roger Norman said the audit has been referred to Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley.
___
Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, https://www.arkansasonline.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.