Pharmacy Board Director's Retirement Shortly Follows Critical Audit
The executive director of the Iowa Board of Pharmacy is retiring after 30 years in the business and a recent critical audit of the pharmacy board.
The executive director of the Iowa Board of Pharmacy is retiring after 30 years in the business and a recent critical audit of the pharmacy board.
Lloyd K. Jessen, RPh, JD, maintained that his desire to retire was not related to the audit, according to The Des Moines Register. The state’s audit reviewed certain expenditures made between 2011 and 2014 and questioned the board’s decision to buy certain technological devices, among other things.
In her March 18, 2015, report, Auditor of the State Mary Mosiman highlighted that the pharmacy board asked to be reimbursed for $42,553 worth of equipment, Internet and mobile broadband charges, and office supplies. Some of the items that the pharmacy board purchased included 24 iPads, 12 printers, 5 scanners, a MacBook Pro, a Dell laptop, and an iMac computer.
According to Mosiman, pharmacy employees said the iPad did not perform all the functions necessary to complete their daily job duties. The board also did not comply with a data protection security standard, which required laptops to use certain lock functions and security patches. In addition, the MacBook Pro and iMac computer did not seem to be used by pharmacy staff, according to Mosiman.
The auditor also determined that some items were improperly sent to Jessen’s home instead of the pharmacy office.
In addition, the cost of the data plans for the iPads and the costs for home Internet service for the director and 7 compliance officers had been inappropriately covered by the board. However, Jessen said the board stopped covering these expenses starting January 2014.
In response to the auditor’s criticisms, the pharmacy board maintained that the staff would receive additional training, have all equipment shipped directly to the pharmacy office, update its inventory to ensure proper control and management, and revise procedures.
“I’ve got my 30 years in, and I decided it’s time to retire,” Jessen, who announced his retirement decision on March, 18, 2015, told The Des Moines Register.
