By The Star Staff
The Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico on Monday issued an adverse opinion on the fiscal operations of the Department of Health of the Municipality of San Juan, in which it reveals multiple irregularities, including improper payments, unjustified excesses and the lack of legal contracts.
The report details that the municipality paid $299,631 in excess of the permitted limit to a contractor in charge of billing and collections, in addition to $115,497 for services without a contract and $22,665 due to a mathematical error. The unsupported payments hamper the proper use of public resources, the report noted.
“In Disagreement – The fifth clause of the contract […], between the municipality of San Juan (municipality) and […] established that the Municipality will pay the contractor for contingency an amount equivalent to 11% of the amounts collected monthly during the provision of services that includes providing billing personnel, billing to medical plans and collections to medical plans,” San Juan Mayor Miguel Romero Lugo commented on the findings. “However, it is important to note that the service contract referred to in the report was granted for the purpose of providing billing and collection personnel to medical plans; medical services (billing and collection) provided by the Municipal Health Department of San Juan (department) […]; services in the areas of linen, diets, diet supervisor, ward clerks, and assistant in medical offices, among others. [sic].”
“We considered the mayor’s allegations, but we determined that the finding prevails,” the Comptroller’s Office noted in response to Romero Lugo’s comments in disagreement. “The Municipal Contract Regulations provide that compensation in this type of contract may never exceed 10% of the income generated.”
Among the findings it was highlighted that nonprofit corporations performed work without legal authorization at the Municipal Hospital, receiving payments that were not deposited in the municipal accounts. In addition, it was identified that a special payer deposited six checks, totaling $11,055, in her personal account, an action that has been referred to the Department of Justice for evaluation.
The report also notes that the Municipality has not kept records of accounts receivable for 50,735 patients, with debts amounting to $7,180,666, which prevents effective management of collections and budget control. In addition, it highlights the lack of regulations and procedures for inventory management and the transfer of medicines.
The Comptroller’s Office recommended that the Municipality of San Juan implement a corrective action plan to improve its internal controls and ensure the efficient use of its resources.
In a response on Monday, the municipality said: “Regarding the recent report issued by the Office of the Comptroller of Puerto Rico, which identified several allegations since 2017, it is important to clarify that all administrative allegations included in the findings of the audit report originated in periods prior to the current administration of Mayor Miguel A. Romero Lugo. In the report, several administrative findings were presented by the Office of the Comptroller, for which the current administration of the Municipality of San Juan has taken several actions to address them.”
Again, we have an NPP official dealing with issues related to inaccuracies in the bookkeeping areas, similar to others in the NPP administrations of the last 30 years. The San juan case is almost like the cherry on the top of the cake; this is the capital city, this is a man who obtained degrees in social sciences from the UPR and law Interamerican University, both Puerto Rican universities; where he also studied about the hospitality industry and still, error, mistakes, overlookings were/are committed; call it whatever you desire to, the point is that ambiguities of this type undermined your credibility and becomes an obstacle in your governing duties of the capital city.
Perhaps the dealings with community centers and…