Fremont: Washington Hospital agendas may violate open meeting law
By Rebecca Parr, The Daily Review, Hayward, Calif. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
"Despite the fact that a particular agenda item is discussed in closed session, the Brown Act still requires that the agenda provide a brief description of the item that is to be discussed," said
On almost all its agendas,
But the Brown Act, the state's open meeting law, requires more specific wording. Without an adequate description, Knox said, it is difficult for people to determine if the district is even legally allowed to go into closed session.
However, "the district is reviewing its various procedures to improve on transparency, which includes reconsideration of agenda formats. ... The district anticipates various changes will be implemented in the coming months," attorney
The hospital district's closed-session agenda notice simply states the rules it operates under: "Emergency Items: Emergency situations may be discussed in closed session if agreed to by a two-thirds vote of the members of the board present, or by a unanimous vote of the board members present."
An emergency meeting is rarely called, and only under limited and drastic circumstances, said
If an emergency meeting is called, the board must provide 24 hours notice in most cases, and the meeting is not automatically closed, Knox said. At the emergency meeting, the board has to vote whether to go into closed session, she said.
"It sounds as though the board may be conflating and confusing various provisions in the Brown Act to find that any item it deems an 'emergency' may be discussed behind closed doors," Knox said.
The emergency item wording has been a part of the district's agenda for years and is a reminder that the board can act if there is an emergency, Kozachenko said.
"Over the history of the district, emergencies have been rare. This is another item that will be reviewed in the coming months for possible revision," he said.
Under closed session items,
"Discussions of general 'human resources matters' are not one of the circumstances under which a public agency may hold a closed session," Knox said.
Hospital districts must follow state and federal rules to protect patient confidentiality, but they remain subject to Brown Act guidelines, Scheer said. The Brown Act is quite specific and provides agenda wording guidelines, he said.
"The agency doesn't have to do much in terms of its disclosure, but it has to disclose something," he said. While he was not familiar with
"You can't keep referring to pending litigation. You have to refer to the claim and cite the case number," Scheer said.
By comparison,
Public records
In its report, the grand jury also concluded that the district responds poorly to public records requests.
In response, the hospital district is now posting agenda packets online. It also no longer requires people attending the meetings to sign in.
In a written response to the grand jury, Stewart disagreed with many of the its findings.
The district acknowledged that its board conducts many meetings in closed session. However, "a health care district routinely deals with unique issues which require closed sessions," Stewart wrote. Those include hospital medical audits, quality assurance committee reports and hospital trade secrets, in addition to other confidential matters such as personnel discussions, labor negotiations and liability claims.
"We want to be transparent, and we want to be responsible stewards of the operations of the district," Stewart wrote. The district also must adhere to federal and
"The district must always consider its obligations to safeguard patient and physician privacy ... issues regularly arise which cannot be discussed in an open forum," he wrote.
The district plans to hold public meetings about its closed sessions within six months,
Regarding poor responses to public records requests, Stewart wrote that over the past six months, the district produced more than 200,000 pages of records and 140 gigabytes of electronic records for such requests.
Stewart took issue with the suggestion that board members' long tenure has led to a perception of complacency. Long-serving directors are a strength because of the complexity of health care, he wrote.
The district rejected the grand jury recommendation of term limits for board members. "The voters have ample power to make a change, should they decide to do so," Stewart wrote.
Three board members are unopposed in the November election, and their names will not appear on the ballot: Stewart,
The grand jury wrote that the district reimbursing its chief executive officer for personal charitable donations led to the appearance of impropriety. Stewart agreed that the district needs to make it clear that the donations are coming from it, not CEO
Farber's contract is now posted online, as the grand jury had recommended.
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