Missed deadline costs St. Louis health department federal HIV/AIDS funds

A missed deadline cost the St. Louis health department $207,000 in federal HIV/AIDS funds, according to an audit of the department, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. Poor record keeping at the department also caused the agency to nearly forfeit an additional $3 million in HIV/AIDS grants. The audit was requested in April by Mayor Francis Slay with the intent of identifying ways to help the department better manage its resources. The auditing firm Rubin, Brown, Gornstein, and Co. found that the department had 320 unprocessed invoices totaling $180,000 and that 40 of the department's 44 grants were not in compliance with state reporting requirements.

While the department did not turn anyone away who sought HIV/AIDS services, the department had to use $207,000 in state taxpayer dollars because at least one federal reimbursement deadline had passed. City officials say the problems have been fixed and that the department is now running more efficiently.