Federal Reports

Our objective was to determine the effectiveness of the Postal Service’s fleet card program and identify opportunities for improvement. For this audit, we summarized previous audit findings and recommendations, interviewed Postal Service management, and engaged with a contractor to assess industry best practices for fleet card management.

The Department did not ensure grant funds and license revenue were used for allowable activities and did not follow applicable laws and regulations.

The personnel suitability program for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is intended to ensure that employees hired to care for patients or handle veterans’ sensitive information undergo background investigations and are suited to hold their positions. After a former nursing assistant pled guilty in 2020 to second-degree murder of seven patients at the Louis A. Johnson VA Medical Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia, the OIG undertook an inspection that found the Clarksburg facility did not adjudicate her background investigation within the required 90 days. This prompted a follow-up audit (still ongoing) of VHA’s personnel suitability program, during which the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) identified issues with the background checks for the Beckley VA Medical Center in West Virginia.This report details the breakdowns in Beckley’s suitability process. Some employees did not have suitability checks initiated or were not fingerprinted as required, while other employees’ background investigations were delayed, discontinued in error, or not completed and evaluated within the required time.These issues occurred, in part, because only one employee was responsible for initiating and evaluating investigations at Beckley. Further, the VHA program office did not conduct required inspections of the Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 5 human resource office to ensure suitability checks were adequately supported. Moreover, VISN 5 did not complete required oversight at Beckley (and other facilities) because it had lacked permanent staff to perform those functions.Consequently, some employees were caring for patients even though they had not yet passed suitability checks—although no evidence of patient harm was identified.VHA concurred with OIG’s three recommendations for VISN 5 to conduct an audit of background investigations for Beckley personnel, establish a plan to conduct compliance checks at other VISN 5 facilities, and evaluate staffing levels and allocate staff as needed for the personnel suitability program.

VA is responsible for securing its 171 nationwide medical facilities. Persistent police staffing shortages and growing concerns about incidents that put VA staff, patients, and visitors at risk led the OIG to conduct this review to provide VA leaders with a snapshot of observed conditions. OIG teams visited 70 VA medical facilities in September 2022 and assessed whether each had established minimum security plans and taken required actions in accordance with VA policy.The OIG identified multiple security vulnerabilities and deficiencies, most notably staffing shortages that contributed to the lack of a visible and active police presence. To meet VA’s established security requirements, facilities will need to fill police officer vacancies, as employing sufficient security personnel and correcting security weaknesses are inextricably linked. Other measures facilities can take to improve campus security include increasing security personnel resources, such as suitable police operations rooms, operable surveillance cameras with consistent monitoring, and adequate equipment, as well as securing doors and restricting public access to high-risk areas. Facilities could also improve communication with local law enforcement and incident readiness trainings. VA concurred with the OIG’s six recommendations: (1) delegating a responsible official to monitor and report monthly on facilities’ security-related vacancies; (2) authorizing sufficient staff to inspect VA police forces per the OIG’s 2018 unimplemented recommendation; (3) ensuring medical facility directors appropriately assess VA police staffing needs, authorize associated positions, and leverage available mechanisms to fill vacancies; (4) committing sufficient resources to ensure that facility security measures are adequate, current, and operational; (5) directing VISN police chiefs, in coordination with medical facility directors, facility police chiefs, and facility emergency management leaders, to present a plan to remedy identified security weaknesses; and (6) establishing policy that standardizes the review and retention requirements for facility security camera footage.