WASHINGTON D.C –
Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, said Wednesday he is concerned about a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation which concluded the Indian Health Service (IHS) is still losing millions of dollars in medical and other equipment.
After an initial GAO report last June, Dorgan held a hearing on IHS property management. Following the hearing, he asked the GAO to conduct a follow up investigation. The report on that investigation was released Wednesday. It concluded that many needed reforms have not been made and the agency is unable to account for an additional estimated $3.5 million in property losses since the original investigation.
“That report is evidence that the Indian Health Service has still not fixed these problems. The taxpayers deserve better,” said Dorgan.
“Last month the Senate confirmed President Obama’s nominee, Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, to be the new Director of the Indian Health Service,” Dorgan said. “I know her challenges are many as she begins her work of putting this agency back on course, but I hope she will give prompt attention to the need to protect IHS equipment that is so urgently required to provide health care to Native Americans.”Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, said Wednesday he is concerned about a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation which concluded the Indian Health Service (IHS) is still losing millions of dollars in medical and other equipment.
After an initial GAO report last June, Dorgan held a hearing on IHS property management. Following the hearing, he asked the GAO to conduct a follow up investigation. The report on that investigation was released Wednesday. It concluded that many needed reforms have not been made and the agency is unable to account for an additional estimated $3.5 million in property losses since the original investigation.
“That report is evidence that the Indian Health Service has still not fixed these problems. The taxpayers deserve better,” said Dorgan.
“Last month the Senate confirmed President Obama’s nominee, Dr. Yvette Roubideaux, to be the new Director of the Indian Health Service,” Dorgan said. “I know her challenges are many as she begins her work of putting this agency back on course, but I hope she will give prompt attention to the need to protect IHS equipment that is so urgently required to provide health care to Native Americans.”