Department of Health and Human Services

Office of Inspector General -- AUDIT

Complete Text of Report is available in PDF format (72 kb). Copies can also be obtained by contacting the Office of Public Affairs at 202-619-1343.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The audit is one of several reviews of procurements by the Program Support Center (PSC) and other components of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. 

The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Health and Human Services Acquisition Regulation (HHSAR) provide, among other things, that HHS agencies award each contract to a responsible party and document compliance with requirements for full and open competition and the determination that the price was fair and reasonable.  

As part of HHS’s hurricane relief operations, PSC awarded a contract to North Central Texas Services, Inc., which operates under the name “CareFlite.”  The contract obligated CareFlite to furnish transportation services for evacuated medical patients who required medical care from their places of evacuation to their original locations.  Our objective was to determine whether PSC complied with FAR and HHSAR requirements during the award process involving CareFlite.  PSC complied with the requirements.