Nebraska State Auditor confronts rural hospital CEO for allegedly misusing hospital funds

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley released a report this morning saying an administrator at the Friend Community Healthcare System (Warren Memorial Hospital) made inappropriate purchases with hospital funds.

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The administrator in question was the Chief Executive and Financial Officer (CEO/CFO) but has since stepped down.

Foley released a letter he wrote alleging the crimes including evidence and details.

“Rural hospitals in Nebraska are teetering under severe budgetary pressures, so such misconduct by a trusted administrator can be enough to push them over the edge of insolvency,” Foley wrote. “It’s definitely not Nebraska nice.”

The letter describes thousands of dollars in golfing expenses in Nebraska, Florida, Colorado, Nevada, Illinois and Tennessee all reimbursed with the hospital’s funds. It also describes hundreds of expenses that seemed questionable to Foley including retail and subscription purchases, local services, dining, travel and lodging.

“It’s always infuriating to see public money being misused,” Foley remarked, “but depriving an important medical facility of scarce funds – solely for extravagant personal aggrandizement – is especially disturbing.”

The evidence and letter have now been sent to appropriate law enforcement agencies. The full letter can be read here.