Federal Reports

This Office of Inspector General Comprehensive Healthcare Inspection Program report describes the results of a focused evaluation of the inpatient and outpatient care provided at the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System, which includes the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial Veterans’ Hospital and multiple outpatient clinics in California. This evaluation focused on five key operational areas:• Leadership and organizational risks• Quality, safety, and value• Medical staff privileging• Environment of care• Mental health (emergency department and urgent care center suicide prevention initiatives)The OIG issued five recommendations for improvement in three areas:1. Leadership and organizational risks• Sentinel events and institutional disclosures2. Quality, safety, and value• Adverse events3. Medical staff privileging• Focused Professional Practice Evaluation processes• Reprivileging reviews

Although the Department of Homeland Security has made improvements to reduce improper payments (IPs) and unknown payments (UPs), DHS did not comply with the Payment Integrity Information Act of 2019 (PIIA) in fiscal year (FY) 2022. According to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A123, an agency must meet all 10 PIIA requirements to be considered compliant.

In May 2022, we conducted unannounced inspections of seven U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) facilities along the United States–Canada (northern) border, specifically three Border Patrol stations in the Swanton sector, one port of entry in the Office of Field Operations (OFO) Boston Field Office area of responsibility, and three ports of entry in the OFO Buffalo Field Office area of responsibility.

We investigated allegations that two U.S. Park Police officers used excessive force against two members of the news media during the operation to disperse protesters in and around Lafayette Park on June 1, 2020.

For our evaluation of the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s (EDA’s) plan for the implementation of Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) funding through its Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) program, our objective was to determine whether EDA followed federal and U.S. Department of Commerce (Departmental) guidelines to award and disburse CARES Act funding through the program. Specifically, we focused on (1) how EDA selected applicants to receive CARES Act funds through the RLF program, (2) whether EDA ensured that RLF pre-disbursement requirements were met prior to disbursing CARES Act funds, and (3) how EDA is monitoring CARES Act funds after they have been disbursed to RLF recipients. We found that EDA I. had a process to select applicants and award CARES Act funds on a competitive and noncompetitive basis through the RLF Program; II. generally ensured that RLF pre-disbursement requirements were met before disbursing CARES Act funds; and III. had a process for monitoring the CARES Act funds after the funds were disbursed.