(The Center Square) – The Department of Health has, for the 15th year, come up short on an audit of the state’s Emergency Medical Services operating fund.
Between July 2021 and June 2024, the auditors say, the department could not account for how 68% of the $37.9 million it dispersed for EMS was ultimately spent.
Auditor General Tim DeFoor spoke from Harrisburg Thursday saying the audit was “like deja vu all over again” and “unacceptable.” He laid questions at the feet of DHS, currently helmed by Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen. DeFoor found that the department failed to implement recommendations from the previous audit, conducted in 2023.
“Today, we laid out 18 recommendations to improve DOH’s oversight of EMSOF, and most we have been making for 15 years,” DeFoor said. “At a time when emergency medical services are losing critical, life-saving resources, not one dollar can be wasted.”
The operating fund comes from fees for driving violations and the state’s Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program, which allows some first-time offenders to remove charges from their records without going to trial by paying fees, attending classes or counseling, and doing community service.
A quarter of those funds go to the Head Injury Program, which was without issue in the audit The remaining is distributed amongst the state’s 13 regional EMS councils and the EMS advisory board.
In Pennsylvania, EMS services are the responsibility of each municipality. A panel at the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors earlier this year revealed an industry in crisis. Most EMS organizations are losing money on the services and struggling to stay fully staffed. When EMS fails to meet its demands, the consequences can be fatal, with sick and injured people waiting longer and longer for help.
“After 15 years, there simply cannot be any more excuses, especially when the governor just signed into law a budget that adds six million dollars to the fund to recruit and retain desperately needed EMS staff,” said DeFoor.
Among those excuses, he said were staffing changes at DHS, being understaffed, and a lack of cooperation from the state’s regional councils. DeFoor suggested that if the councils cannot adequately account for their spending, DHS should make tough decisions about whether or not to continue providing the funds.
“If a regional council refuses to cooperate or provide the required documentation according to law, the department of health must make the difficult decision to withhold funds, just like we do,” said DeFoor. “At a time when emergency medical services are losing critical life-saving resources, not one dollar can be wasted.”
DeFoor said the issue was “all about internal controls,” adding that “they know what they’re supposed to do.”
