The internal auditing offices of the university and the Johns Hopkins Health System will soon be combined, primarily to eliminate the complexities involved in having two audit groups looking separately at matters related to Johns Hopkins Medicine.

The merger of the university's Office of Audits and Management Services and the JHHS Office of Internal Audits will result in a unified staff of about 20 auditors and about three support staff.

"We are very pleased with the positive reaction of the two staffs to this initiative and with their willingness to work together to make the Johns Hopkins audit program even more effective," said James T. McGill, senior vice president for administration of the university. The combined Office of Internal Audits will come into existence with the hiring of an executive director, to be recruited in a national search, said Joanne E. Pollak, vice president and general counsel of the health system. The executive director will report jointly to Pollak and McGill on Johns Hopkins Medicine matters and separately on issues related only to either the university or JHHS.

The two Hopkins institutions are separate corporations. Since the mid-1990s, however, governance of the health system and the university's School of Medicine has been carried out through the board of Johns Hopkins Medicine, led by trustees with authority delegated from the boards of the parent institutions. Combining the audit offices will allow better coordination and improved efficiency in Johns Hopkins Medicine audits, McGill and Pollak said.

The united staffs will be located in common office space, at a location not yet determined, the vice presidents said. No jobs are being eliminated in the merger, they said.