State Audit Critical of Spending by Outgoing Prison Health Receiver
The Office of the Inspector General on Wednesday released a report recommending that the new federal receiver for state prison health care reform rein in costs and staff salaries, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The report on the former receiver, Robert Sillen, found $57,000 in expenses on meals and entertainment during his 15-month receivership (Reiterman, Los Angeles Times, 2/28).
The report found that the receivership paid 12 employees more than the $225,000 salary that James Tilton, secretary of the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, receives.
In addition, the receivership paid out more than $200,000 in lieu of health care benefits over a time period during which it also was providing those benefits to workers (Garcia, MediaNews/San Jose Mercury News, 2/28).
Last month, Sillen was ousted from his receivership by U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson (Furillo, Sacramento Bee, 2/28).
Clark Kelso, the new receiver, has said he expects to reduce expenses by at least $4 million this year (Chorneau, San Francisco Chronicle, 2/28).