Report Raises Questions About RivCo Hospital's Vetting Procedure

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — Riverside County Auditor-Controller Paul Angulo said Tuesday that a review of employment records revealed there were two convicted sex offenders on the payroll in the Riverside University Health System, but hospital and human resources officials quickly dismissed the findings as inaccurate.

Angulo submitted a 10-page internal audit report to the Board of Supervisors indicating that after cross-checking names and birthdates of 8,500 employees within the health system, which includes the Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley, two individuals surfaced as sex registrants listed on the California Megan's Law website.

The audit was conducted over a six-month period beginning in early October 2017.

According to the auditor-controller, when the findings were presented to RUHS staff, they replied that efforts were underway to implement a county policy mandating background checks utilizing federal and state resources.

"We need to approach this with great urgency," Angulo told the board. "We cannot have sex offenders with patients. You've spent almost $1 billion (overhauling hospital operations)."

He said it was the county's "duty" to ensure safety procedures are in place to prevent criminals from coming into contact with vulnerable people seeking medical treatment.

Supervisor Chuck Washington told Angulo that he agreed "100 percent" and was "taken aback" when he read the report, prompting him to request answers from Department of Human Resources and RUHS officials.

"The two employees were not in the state sex offender database," RUHS spokesman Joe Zamora told the board. "We confirmed that through physical descriptions, photographic and other evidence."

Zamora did not have an explanation for the mix-up. Angulo stood by his staff's findings.

An HR official agreed with Zamora about the two employees, whose names were not released, and told the board that since 2016, RUHS and all other county agencies have required background investigations of prospective hires using FBI Live Scan fingerprint processes, as well as criminal records checks.

— By City News Service / Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone