| Public Release Date: March 18, 1999 | No. 99-20 |
The mission of the Minnesota Department of Health is to protect, maintain, and improve the health of the citizens of Minnesota. Ms. Anne M. Barry was the commissioner of the department during the audit period. Ms. Jan Malcolm was appointed commissioner in January 1999.
Our audit scope was limited to those activities material to the State of Minnesota's general purpose financial statements for the year ended June 30, 1998, and to the federal Single Audit objectives. Our primary audit objective was to render an opinion on the State of Minnesota's financial statements. Our scope within the Department of Health included the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and the Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant (MCH).
We qualified our report, dated December 1, 1998, on the State of Minnesota's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report because insufficient audit evidence exists to support the State of Minnesota's disclosures with respect to the year 2000. Auditing the state's year 2000 compliance efforts was not an objective of this audit. As a result, we do not provide assurance that the Department of Health is or will be year 2000 ready, that its year 2000 remediation efforts will be successful in whole or in part, or that parties with which the Department of Health does business will be year 2000 ready.
For the areas audited, the Department of Health's financial activities were fairly presented in the general purpose financial statements of the State of Minnesota's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the year ended June 30, 1998. Except for the following issues, the department complied, in all material respects, with the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-133 Compliance Supplement for the federal programs tested for the year ended June 30, 1998. The department did not visit the required number of clinics, or follow up with subrecipients on audit findings. In addition, the department did not require suspension or debarment certifications from vendors receiving more than $100,000. We also noted that duties related to refunds collected from WIC vendors were not adequately separated.
The department has agreed with three of our four findings and is taking steps to resolve them. The department has disagreed with our finding on the required number of clinics visited. Final resolution rests with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
