Editorial: Accountability should be more than an afterthought [Video]

Another audit, another heavy sigh.

This time, the source of exasperation is the Oregon Health Authority. An internal audit found that the agency failed to strategize, collect data or set performance metrics for $80 million from the Legislature to grow the state’s anemic behavioral health workforce. The audit, first reported by the Oregon Capital Chronicle, noted inconsistent standards and a lack of monitoring to ensure that the grants it issued were improving recruitment and retention of providers, particularly in rural areas or from communities of color as legislators intended.

While the agency funded behavioral health education programs, student loan payments and other initiatives, it cannot show whether all this spending was effective in addressing the problem the Legislature was trying to solve. Meanwhile, the severe shortage of behavioral health providers persists.

A health authority spokesman told The Oregonian/OregonLive’s Sami Edge that there were “several lessons learned” from the audit and its recommendations, which the agency accepted. The problem …