State of North Carolina's Efforts to Account for and Monitor Sub-Recipient's Use of Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program Funds, North Carolina Division of Public Health

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

This final report points out that the North Carolina Division of Public Health (North Carolina) generally accounted for program funds ($3.37 million received for the 2-year period ending March 31, 2004) in accordance with the terms and conditions of the cooperative agreement with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and applicable departmental regulations and guidelines.  However, North Carolina did not track expenditures by phase, within phase, or by priority planning area in its accounting system.  Although segregation was not required, budget restrictions were specified in the cooperative agreement.  North Carolina officials acknowledged the importance of tracking expenditures in order to comply with the budget restrictions.  North Carolina's monitoring procedures facilitated the tracking and monitoring of subrecipient activities and expenditures.  Further, North Carolina officials stated that HRSA funding had not been used to supplant programs previously provided by other organizational sources.  We recommended North Carolina make changes to its accounting system and begin tracking expenditures by priority area, by critical benchmark, and by funds allocated to hospitals and other health care entities.  North Carolina generally concurred with our findings and recommendations and stated it would take the necessary steps to fully comply with the HRSA grant guidelines.