Thread: Auditors cite UNC Hospitals for hiring 17 illegal workers

http://link.toolbot.com/winstonsalemjournal.com/58616

Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Auditors cite UNC Hospitals for hiring 17 illegal workers


McCLATCHY NEWS SERVICE
RALEIGH

University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill became yesterday the fourth state agency taken to task by the state auditor for hiring illegal workers.
Auditors confirmed that at least seven hospital employees had been using fake Social Security numbers or numbers that belonged to dead people. The Office of the State Auditor referred an additional 13 workers whose documents it could not verify to the hospital for further review. UNC Hospitals found that 10 of those employees did not have valid Social Security numbers, bringing the total number of illegal workers to 17, said hospital spokesman Lynn Wooten.
Karen McCall, the vice president of public affairs and marketing for UNC Health Care, the parent of UNC Hospitals, said that most of the 17 employees worked in housekeeping and food services. Wooten said that nine of the employees with bad documents resigned; the other eight were let go.
Auditors faulted the state-supported hospital for failing to conduct quarterly audits of all employee Social Security numbers. Quarterly audits are not required by law but are considered good practice, said Chris Mears, a spokesman for the state auditor's office.
UNC Hospitals will immediately begin the quarterly checks for its 6,000 employees, Wooten said. He noted that a federal Social Security database, used by employers to verify worker information, has been available only since last year. UNC Hospitals already routinely screens new hires - a requirement of all state agencies under state law. Mears said that auditors found no problems with the screening of new employees.
Verifying the identity and legal status of workers has become a greater priority for employers since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Checking the accuracy and authenticity of Social Security numbers is considered the best approach.
The Office of the State Auditor in September began reviewing the payroll data for various state agencies and institutions to see how well they were screening for illegal workers, Mears said.
Since then, auditors have completed reports on N.C. Central University, N.C. State University, the N.C. Department of Justice and UNC Hospitals. Mears said that auditors found at least one worker at each institution who was able to obtain a job with a fake Social Security number or one they appropriated from a legal resident, dead or living.
Mears said that the state auditor's office may continue similar investigations. As findings from previous audits have become public, he said, some agencies have contacted the auditor's office to say they are voluntarily improving their screening processes.
"We may continue to do these (audits)," Mears said. "But it's good to see the agencies taking the initiative."

This is a follow-up story to this:

http://www.alipac.us/modules.php?name=F ... 258#285258