Topeka ? The state Legislative Post Audit Committee is asking questions about Kansas University Medical Center’s operations.

The committee Tuesday directed its staff to conduct the following inquiries:

¢ Does KUMC have sufficient cash flow to cover its major financial obligations in the next few years?

¢ Has recent spending by KUMC focused more on research at the expense of its campus in Wichita?

¢ How has the $5 million annual appropriation by the Legislature for the Kansas Cancer Center been spent?

Those questions were asked by House Speaker Melvin Neufeld, R-Ingalls, and other lawmakers skeptical of KUMC’s plan to affiliate with St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, Mo.

KUMC says the affiliation would improve research and help KU win designation as a national cancer center. KU Hospital, KUMC’s partner, says the affiliation will hurt its financial future because it competes with St. Luke’s.

But KU Hospital was also questioned Tuesday.

Sen. Anthony Hensley, D-Topeka, added inquiries for KU Hospital that included why former Chief Executive Officer Irene Cumming will receive a $1.7 million severance package when she leaves for another job, and why the hospital bought an electronic medical records system for $30 million more than it would have cost to purchase it from another company.

David Adkins, vice chancellor of external affairs at KUMC, said the school welcomed the lawmakers’ scrutiny.

“We are serious stewards of state investment. If legislators are willing to open their minds to the facts, we will have many more advocates,” Adkins said.

He said KUMC wasn’t facing financial emergencies nor ignoring education to boost research, and said state cancer funds were being used to recruit top cancer researchers.

Likewise, a spokesman said KU Hospital had nothing to fear from the audit.

“We’re ready to get in the van and come down there to talk about it now,” spokesman Dennis McCulloch said.

He said Cumming’s “separation package” had not been worked out yet. The purchase of an electronic medical records system from EPIC of Wisconsin was approved in-house and by a consultant, he said, and it cost $4 million – not $30 million – more than another bid.

“We’re very proud of our record,” he said.

The audits are expected to take a couple months.