From what little information there is in the article, it sounds like lack of process was equally to blame as using Excel.
(Not that I would suggest using Excel, personally - I'd go with a small database and a simple web UI but then I'm not a Corporate Consultant looking to charge ££££ per day to faff around for 5 years and then abandon the project.)
There's nothing simple in running accounting in a healthcare system with 16B budget. A small database with simple web UI would have the same problems as Excel spreadsheet. The list of requirements for software automation of such thing would be on four digit number of pages scale. It does require a proper ERP.
From what little information there is in the article, it sounds like lack of process was equally to blame as using Excel.
(Not that I would suggest using Excel, personally - I'd go with a small database and a simple web UI but then I'm not a Corporate Consultant looking to charge ££££ per day to faff around for 5 years and then abandon the project.)