Erie County Comptroller Mark Poloncarz today released the findings of an audit by his office, of the Sale, Purchase, and Operation Agreement between Erie County and The Erie County Medical Corporation.

Among the findings of auditors:

• The sale of the hospital will cost taxpayers over half a billion dollars over the next 25 years.



• ECMCC's President and Chief Executive Officer stated senior management attempted to conceal the funding of an advertising campaign on behalf of the hospital, to avoid possible disclosure of the expense through the New York State Freedom of Information Law.



• ECMCC Senior management consistently violated reporting requirements to the County and failed to follow its own internal audit controls.



• ECMCC Senior Managers refused to sign a routine statement that all the information they gave to auditors was accurate. According to Poloncarz, none of the auditors on his staff can ever remember such a refusal by anyone in the past.

Administrators at Erie County Medical Center responded by saying the audit was politically motivated. "This isn't a performance audit; it's a headline hunt that the comptroller chose to release at particularly sensitive time in their negotiations to form a new health-care model for this region. Why is the comptroller trying to make ECMC look bad at this particular time?," said hospital spokesman Thomas Quatroche. "This audit is motivated by politics and the agenda of ECMC's competitors and does not speak to the financial success of ECMC over the past three years. It is troubling to say the least."

Quatroche also said Poloncarz participated in a charitable golf tournament of an ECMC competitor in June 2007, at a private country club with the competitor's CEO. He says the audit was initiated in August 2007, weeks after the tournament.

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