by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - The contract for the Guam Memorial Hospital's new Chief Financial Officer is currently under review by the Bureau of Budget Management and Research. KUAM News has confirmed that GMH is looking to hire Alan C. Ulrich of Scottsdale, Arizona.

Here are the details of his contract:

- 2 year contract

-$145,000 salary per annum

-GMHA will pay for relocation expenses from Arizona to Guam

-GMHA will pay for round-trip airfare

-GMHA will pay for the shipment of household goods not to exceed 2500 pounds

-Will receive same benefits afforded to full-time employees including annual and sick leave; medical, dental and life insurance

-Participation in GovGuam retirement fund program

-Entitled to maximum of 15 days per diem compensation at the rate of $255 per day for relocation as per Federal Joint Travel Regulation

-Entitled to attend 2 professional conferences annually.

If Ulrich is hired he inherits a financial mess. An audit released today by the Office of Public Accountability revealed "weak basic controls to ensure authorized and accurate compensation to personnel who were paid more than $100,000 annually". Specifically auditors found "weak management oversight as thresholds were not established, the Safe Hours policy was not enforced, and timekeeping and payroll controls were not implemented. This was particularly prevalent for Physicians' compensation where there was a general lack of review or reluctance to question the hours worked by physicians. Further, there is no system in place to correlate the hours compensated to physicians compared to billable hours charged to patients. These and other management oversight weaknesses contributed to employees receiving more than 25% over their base pay during the three years audited without review and authorization, which can be potentially excessive and unauthorized."

According to the analysis GMHA paid an average of $10.5 million (M) annually, or 21% of its total compensation, to 78 individuals. Of the 78 individuals from 2009 through 2011:

-1 received more than $700K a year, or $2.3M over three years;

- 1 received compensation ranging from $400K - $499,999 a year, or $411K;

- 6 received compensation ranging from $300K - $399,999 a year, or $3.7M over three years;

- 20 received compensation between $200K - $299,999 a year, or $8.8M over three years; and

- 63 received compensation of $100K - $199,999 a year, or $16.3M over three years.

You can read the audit in its entirety at guamopa.org.