This is a time for more, not less, public access

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My Two Cents

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Exactly one month ago today, the board that operates Cogdell Memorial Hospital barred the public from attending its meeting. It would appear that decision violated the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Some background. On March 20, Ella Rae Helms, Cogdell’s Chief Executive Officer, called to ask about how Gov. Greg Abbott’s temporary modifications to the Texas Open Meetings Act might affect an upcoming meeting. Some of the hospital board members wanted to meet remotely while others wanted to meet in person. We were early in the COVID-19 pandemic at that time and the situation was changing rapidly.

About that time, I got calls from two other governmental bodies subject the same open meeting requirements. After those calls, in both cases, meetings scheduled for a few days later pretty much went off without a hitch and the public was notified well in advance how to participate in those meetings.

During my call with the hospital, which was a few days before any final decision had to be made, Helms said the plan was to conduct business as usual, but just in case, I offered to provide her a template for information that should be included on the agenda if they decided to meet remotely. She thanked me for that example and confirmed a few days later the board would be meeting in person.

However, when the public, including our reporter Roger Cline, showed up for the March 25 meeting, they were barred from entering the meeting room. They were told that there were already 10 people in the room — a rule from which governments conducting business and the hospital specifically, as a health care provider, are exempt.

After the meeting, in an email, Helms acknowledged they had kept the public from entering the meeting room. We all had to rely on hospital officials to tell us what allegedly happened during the meeting for a story in the paper. Among the discussions the public was shut out of was how the hospital was responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The bottom line is that at a time when sharing more information, not secrecy, is critical, the hospital chose to conduct business behind closed doors.

After the meeting, I mailed Helms and several others a letter asking her to acknowledge what had happened — which she’d already done in emails — and for her and the hospital board to re-commit themselves to training on the Texas Open Meetings Act.

Her response, which finally arrived yesterday, shifted blame. That reply came weeks after at least one board member pulled their advertising in retaliation for the newspaper sending its letter. 

Cogdell Memorial Hospital employs about 230 individuals and the overwhelming majority of them are on the front lines each day keeping the rest of us safe during this pandemic. And not just now. They’re there year-round, when we’re hurting and scared and need them most. 

From the doctors and nurses who check us out to the admission staffers who check us in to the technicians in the labs and the folks working tirelessly to make sure the hospital environment is clean and safe, every one of them deserves our thanks. We as a community can’t do enough to recognize and thank them for their efforts.

But for the administration to brush aside concerns about the votes they took that day being undone because they apparently broke the law should concern every member of the public. Too often that same administration has brushed aside the public’s questions about inaccurate billing and other problems. Instead, they typically ignore or, as in this instance, punish the person asking questions.

Cogdell Memorial Hospital has always been a critically important part of this community — and those who run it should act within the laws that are in place to ensure the public is protected.

Especially now, during this public health situation, the public deserves complete transparency. Nothing less is acceptable. 

 

Bill Crist is the publisher of The Snyder News. Comments may be emailed to publisher@snyderdailynews.com.