Public Health Integrated Audit
Published December 17, 2024
The survey-level assessment of administrative practices at Public Health highlighted a mix of strengths and areas requiring improvement. While Public Health demonstrated effective grant management, procurement processes, and planned upgrades to enhance accessibility, persistent challenges—such as delays in employee evaluations, fragmented performance measures, incomplete fiscal documentation, and high-risk concerns around gift card oversight—hampered operational efficiency. Furthermore, data inconsistencies in the County enterprise information system exposed the division to avoidable risks. Addressing these issues will be critical to aligning administrative
practices with the division’s broader objectives and ensuring sustained effectiveness in delivering public health services to the County.
What was found:
Key areas for improvement included:
- Employee evaluations: 63% of scheduled evaluations were not completed, limiting formal feedback on performance and employee growth.
Public Health’s 63% annual evaluation incompletion rate exceeds the County’s rate.
- Performance reporting: Metrics were spread across multiple platforms, hindering public accessibility and reducing the effectiveness of performance reporting for stakeholders.
- Fiscal controls: Cash handling procedures were incomplete and did not reflect practice, while gift card accountability was reduced when confirmed solely by the custodian.
- Data integrity: Errors within the County’s information system elevated fraud risks and did not reflect an accurate organizational structure.
What was recommended:
We recommended that Public Health:
- Complete performance evaluations and set expectations for timely completion.
- Create a single source of performance reporting information.
- Strengthen fiscal controls and incorporate cash collection practices, workflows, and responsibilities.
- Monitor and report information system data errors.
Audit Report
Public Health Integrated Audit
Follow-Up Reports
Scheduled for 2025.
Recommendation Status
Of the six recommendations
RESOLVED: 0
Recommendations have been fully implemented. Auditor will no longer monitor.
UNDERWAY: 0
Recommendations are in progress. Auditor will continue to monitor.
PLANNED: 5
Recommendations agreed to without progress. Auditor will continue to monitor.
NOT IMPLEMENTED: 1
Management accepted the risk of not implementing the recommendation.
