State Senator Tim Shaughnessy is calling on Auditor of Public Accounts Crit Luallen to review the University of Louisville Medical Center.

Sen. Tim Shaughnessy, a Louisville Democrat, dispatched a letter to Luallen last week that specifically questioned the monitoring of transactions made by the medical center and University Health Care, which provides insurance and Medicaid coverage for poor and disabled people in Louisville.

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Shaughnessy said he isn’t alleging wrongdoing. Instead, he wants Luallen to untangle the intertwined finances and board structures to make sure proper checks and balances are in place and that the university isn’t ultimately on the hook for the financial viability of those organizations.

“It has gotten so complicated that if you’re not an investigative reporter or a CPA, you cannot follow what’s happening at the U of L,” he said. “And that’s unacceptable.”

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While Shaughnessy’s request singled out the medical organizations, he said they are “an example of a systemic issue” of unclear chains of command and accountability with U of L’s network of offshoot non-profits, including the U of L Foundation that manages the university’s endowment and private donations.

“It’s out of control,” Shaughnessy said. “At the end of the day, this is the taxpayers’ money, and the taxpayers deserve to know how the money is being spent and who’s spending it. And it’s very confusing and difficult to follow that through the University of Louisville.”

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U of L President James R. Ramsey sent the Legislative Research Commission’s director a terse letter on Jan. 13 calling Shaughnessy’s inquiries a “witch hunt.”

Ramsey was frustrated at the time that Shaughnessy didn’t come directly to him to ask the questions and sent the letter to try to get a meeting with the senator, which did happen last month, said university spokesman Mark Hebert.

Click here to read the rest from the Herald-Leader.

Maybe Shaughnessy would have gone directly to Jim Ramsey if Ramsey didn’t have a solid history the past two years of carelessly dismissing corruption and wrongdoing, ignoring highly questionable contracts and working to force an involuntary meal plan on students who cannot utilize it.

And suggesting it’s a “witch hunt” to want answers and accountability from a state-funded institution? Really? That’s a stretch and a half.