The Duval County Health Department has been quietly working on problems listed in a scathing, year-old audit that never was formally released to the public, the Florida Times-Union reports.
The Florida Department of Health’s deputy secretary said the audit is one of the most comprehensive done by the Inspector General in the past decade, and highlights problems ranging from medications being left in unlocked refrigerators, to patients waiting too long for drugs for chronic illnesses, to a $200,000 medical van going unused, according to the Times-Union.
The newspaper found a copy of the report on the Inspector General’s website.
In 2012, the Times-Union reported about major problems within the Duval Health Department, which included the failure to disclose information about a tuberculosis outbreak involving the city’s homeless population. At that time, the department director retired suddenly and several managers were fired or retired, according to the Times-Union.
The new health department director told the Times-Union she is using the report to make changes within the department, which has a budget of $46 million.