Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - Erie County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz says he has a number of concerns after an audit of ECMC Corporation.

Poloncarz says it will cost taxpayers $500 million to sustain ECMC until 2033, after the county sold the hospital, creating a public benefit corporation.

He adds the audit found weak internal controls, and that ECMC hid its efforts from the public by having legal counsel Anthony Colucci pay $50,000 for airtime in an attempt to influence the Berger Commission. Poloncarz says it's unethical but not illegal.

In a written statement, ECMC Corporation questions the motive of Poloncarz's audit. The statement says "it's a headline hunt that the comptroller chose to release at a particularly sensitive time in the negotiations to form a new health care model for this region." The statemetn goes on to say the motives should be called into question because the audit mirrored a competitor's Freedom of Information Law filing about the hospital's operations and practices.

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