July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Board needs to open up (4/23/03)
More public input, discussion needed
It may be one of the most controversial decisions the Jay County Hospital Board of Trustees has ever made.
And while we’re not going to wade into whether the board’s 4-2 vote to replace the company hired to provide staffing for the hospital’s emergency rooms was right or wrong, we do agree with one point opponents of the decision are making: That the board needs to stop conducting much of its business behind closed doors.
The Indiana Open Door Law, which provides the guidelines for public (and media) access to meetings of governmental bodies across the state, allows hospital boards wider latitude to hold executive sessions behind closed doors.
Those exceptions are allowed, in part, because of the competitive and sensitive nature of the medical care profession.
But our local board — and many similar hospital boards across the state, we believe — have taken advantage of those exceptions and have moved the majority of the decision-making process out of the public eye, whether it be during executive sessions or in committee meetings.
When decisions — including this one — are made with virtually no public discussion, there is the potential for suspicion. And that suspicion will be magnified when it is an issue that would have sparked strong emotions on both sides even with a thorough public debate.
Democracy is messy. Hashing things out in public isn’t the fastest, least controversial way to conduct business. But it is the best way, and it is the key to the democratic system of government.
The board, which is expected at its meeting tonight to consider a contract with ECI that would replace local firm Preferred Medical Management Inc., should allow structured and limited public comment on the issue before voting.
We have been present at hospital board meetings in which votes were taken on expenditures topping $500,000. Those votes, held after executive sessions, were taken after no discussion during the public portion of the meeting.
We believe the members of the hospital board, who are appointed by Jay County Commissioners, take their role seriously enough that they wouldn’t make major decisions without receiving the proper amount of information.
And we believe the board should afford the public the same opportunity — M.S.[[In-content Ad]]
And while we’re not going to wade into whether the board’s 4-2 vote to replace the company hired to provide staffing for the hospital’s emergency rooms was right or wrong, we do agree with one point opponents of the decision are making: That the board needs to stop conducting much of its business behind closed doors.
The Indiana Open Door Law, which provides the guidelines for public (and media) access to meetings of governmental bodies across the state, allows hospital boards wider latitude to hold executive sessions behind closed doors.
Those exceptions are allowed, in part, because of the competitive and sensitive nature of the medical care profession.
But our local board — and many similar hospital boards across the state, we believe — have taken advantage of those exceptions and have moved the majority of the decision-making process out of the public eye, whether it be during executive sessions or in committee meetings.
When decisions — including this one — are made with virtually no public discussion, there is the potential for suspicion. And that suspicion will be magnified when it is an issue that would have sparked strong emotions on both sides even with a thorough public debate.
Democracy is messy. Hashing things out in public isn’t the fastest, least controversial way to conduct business. But it is the best way, and it is the key to the democratic system of government.
The board, which is expected at its meeting tonight to consider a contract with ECI that would replace local firm Preferred Medical Management Inc., should allow structured and limited public comment on the issue before voting.
We have been present at hospital board meetings in which votes were taken on expenditures topping $500,000. Those votes, held after executive sessions, were taken after no discussion during the public portion of the meeting.
We believe the members of the hospital board, who are appointed by Jay County Commissioners, take their role seriously enough that they wouldn’t make major decisions without receiving the proper amount of information.
And we believe the board should afford the public the same opportunity — M.S.[[In-content Ad]]
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