Calvary Public Hospital has backed the findings of an audit into financial irregularities at the northside health facility, vowing the problems won't be repeated.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But the company that runs Calvary Hospital does not believe its agreement with the ACT government needs renegotiating.
It comes after the government revealed this week the agreement with the hospital's owners is now under review until December, as it demands better governance and financial accountability safeguards at the hospital.
Calvary said it did not see the need for its agreement with the government to be renegotiated, but said it looked forward to "meeting its commitments ... in continuing to provide quality healthcare to all ACT residents".
Little Company of Mary Health Care, which runs Calvary Public Hospital, welcomed the government's response to the Auditor-General's report into irregular financial reports at the hospital.
The report, released in April, detailed falsification of financial statements back to October 2012, with irregularities reaching as high as $9 million between 2012 and 2014.
Calvary National chief executive Mark Doran said most of the Auditor-General's recommendations were supported or already in place.
"This matter has been of serious concern to Calvary since we initially discovered the financial issues at the hospital and we are pleased the report has finally been tabled in the Assembly," Mr Doran said on Friday.
He said Calvary discovered the issues and "initiated comprehensive action" as soon as they came to light, including appointing an international forensic auditing firm.
"Calvary has since implemented a comprehensive range of measures at the Hospital to avoid a recurrence," Mr Doran said.
In a statement, the Little Company of Mary Health Care said it had fully co-operated and supported Auditor-General Maxine Cooper during her audit.
Mr Doran said the financial issues had not affected the ACT government, nor was there "any risk of that occurring".
"The financial consequences of the loss were entirely a matter for Calvary," he said.
"On the contrary, the people of the territory have benefited from the resources and services supplied by Calvary in addition to the budget provided by the ACT Government."
The government released its long-awaited response to Dr Cooper's report on Thursday, in which it demanded Calvary Public Hospital better account for how it spends taxpayers' money.
Hospital staff acted in a deliberately misleading way about its financial state. The hospital's chief executive and chief financial officer were both asked to resign.
The hospital falsely reported having received $8.89 million from the government in 2013-14, allowing it to report a surplus of $1.9 million. The real position was a $9.5 million loss.
Reports and financial systems were manipulated, minutes and meetings were faked, and inaccurate monthly reports were entered into its financial system as part of the deception.
Only a small number of executives and staff were involved, but others knew and failed to report their actions.
The government supported findings in Dr Cooper's report, which outlined areas where governance and oversight of Calvary by ACT Health could be improved.
"ACT Health will work with Calvary over coming months to determine the capacity of the current arrangements to deliver effective, efficient and integrated public hospital and health systems for our community," the government said in its response.
