Review of Alleged Misuse of Hurricane Sandy Funds at VA New York Harbor Healthcare System

We conducted this review to determine the merits of an anonymous allegation that VA wasted millions of dollars of Hurricane Sandy Disaster Relief Funds. The complainant alleged the Associate Director at the VA New York Harbor Healthcare System (VANYHHS) wasted funds by making cosmetic repairs to patient areas of the VANYHHS’ Manhattan facility that were not damaged by the hurricane and by overpaying for the purchase of used equipment. Based on our onsite inspection, interviews of VANYHHS employees, and review of the Hurricane Sandy disaster damage, we concluded that the completed and ongoing repairs and relocation projects appeared to be reasonable. We did not find evidence to substantiate that VANYHHS wasted Hurricane Sandy funds by making cosmetic repairs to undamaged portions of the building. Because we did not substantiate the allegations, we closed this review without further action. We will report the results of additional review work pertaining to Hurricane Sandy funds at a future date.