Review of LDVA Finds Problems with Pharmacy Inventory, Provision of Meals, Residents' Accounts

An examination of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ operations related to its veterans homes and headquarters found numerous problems with pharmacy inventory, meals provided to employees and guests, resident housing fees, and funds for discharged or deceased residents, the Legislative Auditor said in a report released today.

Auditors found that the Pharmacy Department of the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Home in Reserve did not have adequate controls in place to ensure that the recording and reporting of medications and medical supplies was complete, accurate, and verifiable. In addition, the review showed that meals at the home were being provided free of charge to some employees, that the number of meal tickets collected in the cafeteria from non-residents was not being reconciled to the number of meals sold, and that the home had a significant increase in meal costs in December 2015 that was not justified by records. Auditors also found that during fiscal 2015 and 2016, the home made four payments totaling $16,000 to an employee to decorate the facility for the holidays, which is a violation of state law.

In addition, auditors found instances at two of the five Veterans Homes in which management did not properly assess the monthly fees charged to residents and did not verify the income of residents to ensure the correct fee amounts were assessed. The report also noted that three of the five Veterans Homes failed to comply with policy and state law over handling abandoned funds of residents who either had been discharged or passed away.

Auditors also identified accounts receivable balances that were not properly transferred to a new computer system and that were not reconciled between the new and previous systems. The lack of regular reconciliation and follow-up procedures to clear up outstanding balances and system-generated errors allowed inaccurate balances to remain on the residents’ accounts.

The evaluation found as well that violations of the LaCarte state purchasing policy occurred at the Department’s headquarters and at three Veterans Homes, such as no or improper documentation. In addition, auditors identified multiple violations of state travel regulations at headquarters, including advances given to ineligible employees and lodging charges exceeding maximum allowable limits.

In LDVA’s response, management agreed with the problems and noted that similar observations were made during its internal review of operational procedures. Management also pointed out that resources are being used to thoroughly analyze all of LDVA’s procedures in hope of discovering and correcting all weaknesses in its operational procedures.