OMC awaits audit opinion

Oconee Medical Center’s newly-engaged outside auditors are wrapping up their audit of the hospital’s financial books, and the board chairman anticipates Dixon, Hughes, Goodman, LLC of Charlotte, North Carolina will render an unqualified opinion for the year that ended September 30. Dr. Bill Howiler, chairman of the board of directors, in a report prepared for last week’s annual meeting of the hospital association, said OMC incurred an unaudited loss of $4.1 million and a total bottom line loss of $3.1 million. Howiler cautions that there are factors that account for those results. He said they include significant non-cash items, so they do not reflect actual cash flow. “In particular, we booked depreciation on plant and equipment in Fiscal Year 2012 of more than $9.2 million, which is a non-cash entry in the income statement,” said Howiler. “Backing out the non-cash items, we actually produced $5.1 million in positive cash flow from operations, which allowed us to meet our bond payment obligations and continue to invest in cash reserves,” he explained.