Seattle-based UW School of Dentistry has amassed $40 million in debt due to "poor decision-making and challenges beyond their control," according to a state auditor report cited by The Daily.
The $40 million in debt equals roughly the school's annual budget. To address the deficit, UW School of Dentistry has laid off staff, increased tuition and collected additional state funding. However, these efforts haven't been enough.
One of the reasons the university has accumulated so much debt is due to the number of Medicaid patients it sees. UW School of Dentistry relies on Medicaid patients, although Washington has some of the lowest Medicaid reimbursement rates.
The Center for Pediatric Dentistry at the dental school has only generated a quarter of its projected revenue due to "foreseeable problems in its revenue forecast," the audit found. This accounts for half of the school's debt.
The audit also found the school does not have proper systems to track billing, causing an unnecessary $3.5 million loss.
"Gaps in the university's financial management process and the antiquated financial systems that enabled the deficits at the School of Dentistry remain," the audit said, according to The Daily. "The university and the School of Dentistry need a long-term strategy to reconcile competing financial, educational and service objectives."
UW School of Dentistry has implemented new policies to track billing information. However, there is still a lack of management information, clinical costs and revenue collection.
The interim dean of the dental school declined The Daily's request for comment.