State Auditor Releases Report On Oklahoma State Department Of Health

The Oklahoma State Auditor and Inspector released its audit of the Oklahoma State Department of Health Wednesday afternoon.

In the report, which we have linked to here, auditors looked into expenditures at the department from Sept. 1, 2019, to February 28, 2021. We have also embedded the report at the bottom of this story.

The report is divided into three sections. The first section examines $5.4 million paid by the state of Oklahoma for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that has never been received.

"OSDH did not have a comprehensive emergency procurement policy or procedure in place prior to the COVID-19 emergency, greatly increasing the state’s risk for fraud, waste, and loss of funds. As a result, prepayments were made in violation of the Oklahoma Constitution and goods have still not been received for over $5.4 million paid by the state. "

The second section of the audit report is focused on Oklahoma's purchasing process and purchasing laws.

"OSDH experienced numerous personnel changes within the administrative and finance divisions during the audit period. In addition to the two Interim Commissioners, the agency also had three different Chief Financial Officers during the audit period and a new Chief of Staff. With these significant changes, it is possible some of these individuals may have been unfamiliar with state purchasing laws. Purchases specifically in question were related to furniture, communication support, and OU Health Science Center Contracts, Saxum and Shyft Partners LLC.

We performed an analysis of the agency’s miscellaneous expenditures for FY 18, FY 19, and FY 20 using the combining trial balance. For accounts with total expenditures exceeding $3 million and a 50% or more increase (see blue highlights below), we analyzed the details of account and followed up on outlying activities from year to year."

The third and final section of the audit report examines salaries, in particular the salary of then-OSDH Commissioner Gary Cox, whose salary was raised from $215,188 to $335,160 on Jan. 1, 2021. The higher salary, according to the report, exceeded the state's maximum salary at the time, $322,782.

Gov. Kevin Stitt issued a statement Wednesday afternoon about the audit:

“First, I appreciate the hard work and thorough investigation conducted by Auditor Byrd and I continue to be fully committed to transparency in state government.

“COVID was an unprecedented crisis across the world. From the beginning my top priority has been to protect the health and safety of Oklahomans. In early March 2020 we were one of the first states to shut down nursing homes to protect the most vulnerable, saving countless lives. To keep hospitals open and our frontline workers safe, I issued executive orders to get PPE to our state as quickly as possible. Looking back today, we can acknowledge that there were technical errors while still knowing we did everything we could to protect citizens of this state during an unimaginable time.

“Lastly, I am grateful to Attorney General John O’Connor for working with OSDH and fighting to ensure the state receives the money it is owed.”

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