PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The state medical examiner’s office failed to complete more than 1,500 autopsies in the last five years and has been plagued by an inefficient use of staff, according to a state audit released on Wednesday.

The state Department of Health requested the review by the state Bureau of Audits after medical examiner Elizabeth Laposata resigned in June amid findings that hundreds of final written autopsy reports had not been completed, according to the department.

The audit looked at 3,546 autopsy cases received by the medical examiner’s office between January 2000 and the end of June this year.

Of that number, the audit found that 1,512 autopsy reports – 43 percent of the total – had not been completed.

Investigators also said they couldn’t find the files for some cases. In addition, they said the majority of incomplete reports since 2001 were in draft form or unsigned.

The bureau reviewed how the office tracked cases and prepared reports. Investigators found the offices uses a “manual process” that has led to “an inefficient utilization of pathologist and general staff resources, coding errors in the log and report files, and case misfiling.”

Health Director David Gifford said the department agrees with the audit’s findings and its recommendations for improvement.

“Clearly this level of past performance does not meet our expectations,” Gifford said in a statement. “Going forward, we are determined to complete all written autopsy reports in a timely manner.”

A message left with the Health department’s spokesman was not immediately returned on Wednesday.

AP-ES-08-31-05 1840EDT