EVIT discovers unauthorized signed lease by health center in 2011

PHOENIX — The East Valley Institute of Technology unearthed an unauthorized 2011 lease signed by a health center that may have resulted in the loss of millions of dollars, the company said Thursday.

A recent review found that Adelante Healthcare, a community health center located on EVIT’s main Mesa campus at 1601 W. Main Street, signed a lease with the previous EVIT administration in 2011 without approval by the institution’s governing board, as is required by law. The negotiated lease also traded hands with a third party that made Adelante pay over $60,000 in monthly rent fees to the third party while only $2,700 to EVIT.

EVIT’s legal counsel reported its initial findings of receiving much lower than market value to the Arizona Auditor General, Arizona Attorney General and the FBI.

“EVIT has not concluded anything nefarious has occurred, but it is our duty to report issues we have concerns with,” EVIT superintendent Dr. Chad Wilson said in a press release. “EVIT is an institution funded by taxpayers. It is our great responsibility and privilege to ensure that we are good stewards of the financial investment taxpayers have made in our school.”

EVIT made the discovery after it was audited by the Arizona Auditor General. Even though audits are performed each fiscal year, the allegedly illegal lease signing was detected 13 years later.

Adelante Healthcare has operated on EVIT’s Mesa campus since 2012 and continues to provide internships for students enrolled in the technical program.

Wilson said the legality of the Adelante lease has not affected student training.

View the full Sept. 19 EVIT Governing Board meeting here.