Public Release Date: August 8, 1997 | No. 97-40 |
The Minnesota Veterans Home- Silver Bay is one of four Minnesota Veterans Homes under the direct management of the Veterans Home Board. The board consists of nine voting members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the state senate. The Veterans Home board appointed Mr. Jeffrey Brown as the administrator of the Silver Bay Veterans Home in June 1994.
The Silver Bay Veterans Home has been in operation since October 1991. Currently, the home has 85 residents and is licensed for 89 residents. Residents of the home must be either military veterans or the spouses or widows of military veterans who require skilled nursing care. The home funds its operations through state appropriations, federal per diem payments, and resident maintenance payments.
Our objectives were to obtain an understanding of management controls relevant to resident maintenance fees, federal per diem reimbursements, payroll, supplies, professional and technical services, and resident account receipt and disbursement activity. We also designed our audit to provide reasonable assurance that the home complied with provisions of laws and rules.
The Silver Bay Veterans Home designed and implemented internal controls to provide reasonable assurance that resident maintenance fees and federal per diem reimbursements were properly calculated, deposited, and recorded in the state's accounting system. In addition, the home used the authorized cost of care rates. For the items tested, the home's eligibility determination procedures and the methodology used in calculating resident maintenance fees are in compliance with statutory and rule provisions.
The Silver Bay Veterans Home designed and implemented internal controls to provide reasonable assurance that its operating expenditures, including payroll and supplies, were properly authorized, processed in accordance with state policies and procedures, and accurately reported in the state's accounting records. However, the home needs to restrict security access to its payroll and personnel systems. In addition, certain duties of processing and approving payroll transactions need to be separated.
The Silver Bay Veterans Home designed and implemented internal controls to provide reasonable assurance that resident financial activities were promptly and accurately recorded in the resident's account and in accordance with the resident's authorizations. In addition, resident funds were reconciled timely.