Objective

To assess the extent of implementation of the six recommendations included in our initial audit report, Controls Over Equipment (Report 2017-N-9).

About the Program

The New York City (NYC) Health and Hospitals Corporation’s (H+H) capital assets include land, buildings, construction in progress, and equipment. As of June 30, 2022, H+H reported approximately $11 billion in capital assets, of which about $5 billion included medical and office equipment. During the year ending June 30, 2022, H+H purchased approximately $285.6 million in equipment. Descriptions, purchase order numbers, and other information about major movable equipment (costing $500 or more) are recorded in H+H’s Peoplesoft Asset Management system. The equipment includes ultrasound machines, vital sign monitors, and laptops. Equipment costing $500 or more must be tagged and the tag numbers are recorded in the asset management system. When equipment is disposed of, information pertaining to that item is purged from the system.

Our initial report, issued on January 9, 2019, examined whether H+H had established adequate controls over equipment. The audit, which covered the period July 1, 2016 through August 7, 2018, found that H+H’s controls over equipment needed to be improved, as auditors were unable to find some items during the review of a judgmental sample. Our audit also found that H+H staff did not always accurately record information in their Fixed Asset Management (FAM) system and made errors when tagging items. We also found various record-keeping issues associated with the relinquished, mass-retired, transferred, and repaired assets. Furthermore, H+H officials did not adequately monitor the FAM system and did not ensure that employees were aware of and followed the tagging policy, which resulted in inconsistent asset tagging.

Key Findings

H+H has made some progress in addressing the issues identified in the initial audit report. Of the initial report’s six audit recommendations to H+H, two were implemented, one was partially implemented, and three were not implemented.

Key Recommendation

Officials are given 30 days after the issuance of the follow-up report to provide information on any actions that are planned to address the unresolved issues discussed in the follow-up report.