Federal Reports

We performed this review as part of our ongoing inspection with the objective to conduct integrated oversight of the funding provided to Forest Service's Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

Alert Memorandum:Closure of Participating MainStreet Lending Program Bank

The COVID-19 pandemic caused a surge in demand for ventilators and provoked concerns about potential supply shortages across VA medical facilities. During the course of a previous broader review, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) uncovered a potential issue with the number of ventilators procured and stored at the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans’ Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, and sought to determine whether they had been properly requested, acquired, received, and accounted for.The OIG found the facility acquired more ventilators from March 1, 2020, through November 30, 2021, than were needed for veteran care. Facility and Veterans Health Administration (VHA) officials duplicated purchase efforts, resulting in the facility obtaining 112 ventilators—56 from a local contract and 56 from a VHA national contract. This was due in part to facility officials’ concerns about the pandemic-related demand and acquisition delays from supply chain disruptions. The VHA-purchased ventilators, worth about $2.5 million, were never used for patient care at the hospital. They were placed in storage for more than 19 months during which other VA facilities reported shortages. The ventilators were quickly redistributed in 2022 after facility officials turned them in.The hospital lacked an effective methodology to determine the number of ventilators the hospital needed either before or during the pandemic. Contributing to these issues was VA’s lack of a reliable inventory system to identify excess equipment.VA concurred with the OIG’s recommendations to (1) document a methodology for determining the number of ventilators required to fulfill the facility’s mission during routine and emergency operations and (2) determine whether the remaining ventilators are all needed or can be turned in as required by VA policy. VA submitted documentation of corrective actions resulting in the OIG’s closure of the recommendations as implemented.

This interim report presents the results of our self-initiated audit of mail delivery, customer service, and property conditions at the Allapattah Station in Miami, FL. The Allapattah Station is in the Florida 3 District of the Southern Area and services ZIP Codes 33142 and 33242. These ZIP Codes serve about 52,444 people in an urban area. This delivery unit has 31 city routes. We judgmentally selected the Allapattah Station based on the number of Customer 360 and Informed Delivery contacts associated with the unit, and Stop-the-Clock scans performed at the unit.

This interim report presents the results of our self-initiated audit of mail delivery, customer service, and property conditions at the Doral Branch in Doral, FL. The Doral Branch is in the Florida 3 District of the Southern Area and services ZIP Codes 33172, 33192, 33206, and 33222. These ZIP Codes serve about 37,076 people in an urban area. This delivery unit has 24 city routes. We judgmentally selected the Doral Branch based on the number of Customer 360 and Informed Delivery contacts associated with the unit and Stop-the-Clock scans performed at the unit.

This interim report presents the results of our self-initiated audit of mail delivery, customer service, and property conditions at the Flagler Station in Miami, FL. The Flagler Station is in the Florida 3 District of the Southern Area and services ZIP Codes 33128, 33129, 33130, 33131, 33132, and 33136.These ZIP Codes serve about 87,503 people in a predominantly urban area. This delivery unit has 79 city routes. We judgmentally selected the Flagler Station based on the number of Customer 360 and Informed Delivery contacts associated with the unit and Stop-the-Clock scans occurring at the delivery unit rather than at the customer’s point of delivery.