Trustees hear from another citizen

The Cedar County Memorial Board of Trustees, David Bozarth, Michelle Leroux Harold Fugate and Katie McGee by phone, with Marvin Manring presiding conducted the February meeting in the atrium of the hospital. There were several members of the public in attendance. Hospital CEO Terry Nichols and CFO Carla Gilbert were in attendance as well as Executive Assistance Mandi Jordan and CNO BreAnn Jackson.

The Trustees went through the agenda reviewing the financial report, quality indicators, medical staff credentialing, etc.

Gilbert presented a preliminary financial dashboard.

Heather Johnson was allowed to speak to the board. Her comments follow:

Good evening. My name is Heather Johnson. I am here as a resident of Cedar County (and am thereby a stakeholder in Cedar County Memorial Hospital). I am here to provide public comment re: agenda item- Article, “Back to Profitability” and agenda item- Policies and Procedures.

In the article referenced on the agenda – it mentioned, and I quote, “one the biggest items that we need to focus on is getting back to profitability”. It referenced expansion, projects, future plans and needing positive operating cash flow to pay for that. I’d like to be sure that with the loss of major revenue generating providers in recent months, that the hospital is not planning any kind of expansion until:

1.     Questions and concerns re: finances are fully answered for all board members, with documentation to back up those answers.

2.     Cash on Hand is in a steady flow of increase

3.     A solid financial projection is realized to prove competency and stability

4.     Policies and procedures as well as conduct issues are dealt with in a manner consistent with the level of ethics and integrity expected of Board of Trustees and Hospital Administration.

The Board of Trustees, via the CCMH by-laws serve as the governing body and supreme legal authority of Cedar County Memorial Hospital.

That being so, I would hope that a board member would be treated with a level of respect and professionalism in public (and behind closed doors) that CCMH proposes to reflect in its public persona to the community.

If for any reason, there was conduct going on behind closed doors that was unethical and unprofessional, I would hope that you, as the Board Chairman, would halt such behavior. You have every responsibility and the absolute authority to do so.

If aggressive conduct were taking place, conduct being separate from meeting content, it would seem plausible that such conduct may take place in other private meetings within the hospital facility. Leadership starts with the governing Board, and what you allow. If anyone is allowed to purposely intimidate, humiliate, curse at, or seriously invade the personal space of someone, etc. I hope as Chairman you would halt such behavior.

Agenda item #2: Policies and Procedures.

I noticed that in the new hospital policy re: public comment (approved a few months back), there are quite a few hoops for the public and Board to jump through. There is now a 22 item list of all the stipulations and guidelines for the public to follow re: public comment – comment which can be denied if it is not specifically re: a current meeting agenda item. Agenda items are not listed weeks in advance. Often they are only publicly listed a few days in advance.

As of yesterday, this current meeting’s agenda was not listed on Facebook, and neither your December nor January agenda were listed on your website, two common places one could find them just 6-9 months ago. There are scores of hoops for the public to jump through yet CCMH is not carrying out the basic forms of public communication re: meetings that it did just 9 months ago. There is not even a time listed on this month’s online agenda nor where in the building the meeting will take place.

I also noticed that if there is public comment, per item 14 on the new policy, no board member can respond to a comment or ask a question of a speaker unless the board unanimously votes, in a motion, to allow them. A board member is now only allowed to speak to someone addressing the board if the entire board, in a motion, agrees to let him or her speak or ask a question. That sounds less like a governing body with supreme legal authority and more like a recent policy pushed through to prevent one (or more) board members from speaking or obtaining information.

Having been present at many board meetings in the past, I can tell you this was not the case. Even if members and administration did not agree, they were allowed to talk out their concerns.    

If a board member is not allowed to address a speaker in any way without the express permission of the entire board via a motion, I can’t help but wonder if a board member is allowed to speak at all without permission from the board or Board Chairman. This was not the case 6-8 months ago. Are comments and questions now restrained for board members? If so, why? There is an election coming up. This is an interesting time to put such stipulations in place.

I also noticed that the new policy limits public comment to “no more than 5 speakers” per session – and may be reduced to less than that. That means, if next month the hospital decides it may shut down the ElDo clinic or is considering acquisition, only 5 people (at the most) would be allowed to make public comment from the community in that month’s session. If the Executive Team recruits 5 friends to sign up and support such an effort it could be only those 5 (or less) who receive the opportunity to provide public comment. The rest of the information would be from the Executive Team, the Board, or whomever the Executive Team determines you get to hear from. You can see how these new policies inhibit the public, and even board members at times, from being an important part in the process.

I hope the Board of Trustees will review my comments, and consider the concerns expressed today.

I thank you for your time and pray that you will each govern wisely and with integrity.

Fugate also asked to speak to the board about the conduct of board members in executive session. He was informed that he could not speak to anything that had happened in closed session. He stated that he wasn’t going to speak to any actions taken but only to conduct. He was denied. At some point during this discussion

McGee said the board members were acting like children.

Nichols stated that Jarrod Schiereck had conducted active shooter training at CCMH and the Medical Mall.

The board went into executive session.

There was no report from that session