The green light has officially been given for senior policy advisor Samuel Odle and Bose Public Affairs Group to conduct an investigation and analysis of Delta Health System’s financial condition.
During their regular Monday meeting, the Washington County Board of Supervisors voted 4-0 in approval of its contract with Odle in the amount of $150,000.
District 5 supervisor Jerry Redmond was absent from the meeting.
Bose appeared before the board after they voted unanimously during their previous meeting, Monday of last week, to employ the services of Odle.
Before enlisting such services, the BOS was required to make a finding in its minutes that the “financial and operations of DHS are in a state of unknown condition,” or “financial distress.”
Odle was asked how often the BOS would be updated on the discoveries of the investigation.
“We can do that as often as you’d like,” he told the BOS, noting how helpful board attorney Willie Griffin had been thus far in the process. “We’ll make ourselves available to you as you request.”
District 4 Supervisor Mala Brooks inquired about the estimated turnaround time for submission of the first report.
Odle said he expects a preliminary report regarding the “deepest concerns” to be available within seven to 10 days.
Griffin reviewed the contract and highlighted Odle’s plan of action which would be executed in stages as outlined in the contract.
“The contract is roughly for $150,000 plus some expenses and the contract indicates they will not incur any expenses in excess of $1,000 without contacting the county administrator first,” he pointed out. “This is a contract that’s going to be prepared in the state of Mississippi and the laws in the state of Mississippi apply for the most part.”
The adopted order of the BOS states in part, “The board deems it necessary and in the best interest of Washington County to order an immediate investigation and determination of the financial condition, operations and related programs.”
It provides that the DHS Board of Trustees cooperate and make available to Odle and Bose, their employees and associates as well as any and all records or documents required for the analysis.
As outlined in its order, items required to perform the analysis include but are not limited to the last three fiscal years of financial statements and the most recent year to date financials with balance sheet; last two years of external fiscal audits; last 12 months of board minutes of the board of trustees, the finance committee and the audit committee; most recent Joint Commission Accreditation of Health Organization (JCAHO) inspection report; any other external report for the past 12 month conducted by state agencies; summary of pending litigations; information on any external actions by a governmental agency or a payee that is ongoing; and such other records that the consultants deem just and proper.
