DONALDSONVILLE — Former West Ascension Hospital CEO Vince Cataldo is speaking out about an $80,000 check he received in 2024 that has appeared in two consecutive legislative audits.

Cataldo stepped away from Prevost Hospital in 2023 after more than 50 years there, citing 'political pressure'. Shortly after, he says he got a surprise in the mail — an $80,000 check allegedly for accrued vacation time.

The auditor's report said the hospital district could not provide documentation to support why Cataldo received that payment or who approved it. According to policy, the maximum payout should have been $8,940, suggesting he was overpaid by more than $71,000.

During a July 2025 meeting, an auditor addressed questions from board members about the check.

"Did he write the check to himself? Did he approve the payment, write the check and spend the money?" President Bill Dawson asked.

"All we saw is that it went through the payroll system, that's all we could tell. But we don't know who wrote the check or who approved it or anything? Yeah, there was no documentation," the auditor said.

Cataldo is firm that he had no involvement in the payment.

"I received this check about the 15 of January of 24," Cataldo said. "I did not have anything to do with that check. I did not request that payment. I did not make the calculations. I did not submit that check to a check-writing service."

According to the board's response in the 2025 audit, the plan was to question Cataldo about why the payment was made and, if they didn't get a valid response, request the overpayment back.

"I never did receive, and it never was recommended by the hospital attorney to try and attempt to recover that money," Cataldo said.

During the February 2026 meeting, Dawson asked the hospital's attorney about pursuing the matter.

"Is that something that you would recommend that we pursue in spite of the fact that the audit doesn't recommend that?" Dawson said. "No, because we can't determine whether or not he was owed that time or not."

Cataldo questions why the check is still being brought up, especially since the district attorney said he did nothing criminal.

"So why did this come up again in the audit in '24/'25, because that should have been taken care of?" Cataldo said.

He believes the continued attention on the check is politically motivated.

"I think they were trying to divert the attention from something else. That's my opinion. But that's only my opinion. I have no proof of that," Cataldo said.

Cataldo wouldn't elaborate, but the legislative auditor had several other findings in the 2025 report from the current administration. Those included contributions totaling nearly $150,000 to various schools, private organizations and people without receiving services in return and paying out $65,850 in employee bonuses that were not approved.