2002 State audit of Evergreen Hospital finds flaws in accounting procedures

State audit of Evergreen Healthcare finds flaws in accounting procedures

September 23, 2002 -A state audit has found that Evergreen Healthcare, a public hospital district on the Eastside, lost $55,000 worth of registration checks that should have been deposited as part of the 2001 Body, Mind and Spirit Symposium.

The annual audit uncovered numerous deficiencies in Evergreen's accounting procedures for the symposium:

• Before the audit, the district did not know it was short on payments. During the audit, Evergreen managed to recover $15,642 — money not included in the $55,000 loss.
• Deposits for the symposium were not made in a timely manner. More than $87,000 in checks issued from June through September 2001 were not deposited until the three-day symposium started on Sept. 7, 2001.
• The district did not adequately review why revenues dropped from $313,000 at the 2000 symposium to $105,000 in 2001.
• Evergreen did not have adequate controls over on-site registration-fee collections.

The audit found there was nothing to indicate any money was stolen. In a written response, Evergreen acknowledged inadequate internal controls. But it would not follow the auditor's recommendation to seek reimbursement from symposium participants.

"We do not believe that we have adequately detailed records and documentation to determine whom to contact for replacement checks," Evergreen wrote.

The district has an annual budget of about $280 million, about $12 million [$15 million] of which comes from property taxes.

The 4-year-old holistic and alternative-medicine symposium, which featured speakers and vendors, has been abandoned this year as a result of declining interest, said Evergreen spokeswoman Kendra Weil.  As a result, the department that handled the checks no longer exists. All future registrations for other events or classes will be handled by Evergreen's Healthline department, which has better accounting procedures, Weil said.

Published in the Seattle Times, Sept. 23, 2002
By Times reporter:  Nick Perry: 206-515-5639

Reports on the Evergreen Hospital 2010 state audit - going back to 8/5/11 -  are found in my blog here.  B.Y.