Two Ratanakkiri Referral Hospital officials have been ousted from their posts following an audit that found that more than $13,000 from the hospital’s travel allowance account was mismanaged, causing the hospital to run out of money to pay staff.

However, officials yesterday declined to comment on how exactly the money was misused.

Administration director Chham Bora and accounting manager Kin Pisey were fired on Wednesday following the Ministry of Health’s inspection, which discovered that $13,055 was owed to more than 30 staff, according to Hing Phan Sokuthea, the hospital’s director, and Ung Ratana, director of the provincial health department.

“All the involved persons were removed from their positions,” Ratana said yesterday.

The hospital’s annual total mission funds are about $25,124. Missions fund are used to pay staff when they accompany a patient to get treatment at a different location, such as Vietnam, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh, Ratana said.

Only about $12,069 had been paid out before the hospital ran out of funds, Ratana said. Unpaid staff were given their allowances on Wednesday and Thursday, Sokuthea said. However, he declined to say where the money came from.

Two people were sent to court last month over stolen medication at the hospital as well, Ratana said.

Ministry spokesman Ly Sovann declined to comment.