A federal audit found a Veterans Affairs hospital in Virginia mismanaged medical supplies and equipment ranging from dialysis needles to printers, according to the Daily Press.
An audit team from the Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General inspected Hampton (Va.) VA Medical Center after receiving a confidential hotline complaint in August 2018. The audit resulted in a 52-page report with a dozen recommendations for the facility. The report was published Sept. 26.
The audit team made two unannounced visits after the complaint and found several supply chain management problems, including inaccurate inventories, excess supplies and staff inability to locate some supplies.
The audit also showed the staff consistently failed to use the Generic Inventory Package system to track and automatically fill orders for necessary supplies.
In one instance, the medical center's supply technician had to drive 170 miles round trip to get supplies from Richmond, Va., according to the Daily Press.
Staff shortages and a lack of oversight contributed to the problems, which the Daily Press reports are common in other VA centers across the country.
The Hampton VA Medical Center has submitted a plan of correction to the inspector general, which was accepted, according to the report.
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