Hospital Board Clashes Over Decorum Rules
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
HOUSTON COUNTY – The Houston County Hospital District (HCHD) met Tuesday, Nov. 21 to receive financial and hospital reports and clashed over a proposed new code of conduct regarding board members and members of the public who attend the meetings.
The code of conduct was proposed at the August HCHD meeting but was tabled at the time to give board members more time to study the proposals.
The code called for several codes the HCHD board members would need to respect, including:
- Respecting other board members, hospital employees, contractors and the public at large
- Respecting the confidentiality of executive session and confidential information shared by other board members
- Striving to attend all board meetings and be prepared to discuss the topics of each
- Encourage the board to follow applicable laws, statutes and regulations
- Limiting the board’s ability to deliberate or make decisions to the items on the meeting agenda
The code also presented some items regarding the public participation in the meetings, including:
- Members of the public wishing to speak publicly at the meetings should register no later than five minutes before the start of each meeting
- Limiting public participation to the “public comments” portion of the meeting which should last no more than 30 minutes
- Each person is allowed a maximum of five minutes for their comments (or 10 minutes if a translator is required)
- Each public commenter should remain respectful, non-threatening, non-argumentative and use proper decorum
- Disruption at the meetings will not be tolerated and, if after a warning, the public’s comments continue to be disruptive, ask for the person to be removed from the meeting
Board member Dina Pipes began by questioning the reason and the timing behind the addition of the code.
“Why are we doing this now?” Pipes asked.
“Because all of the organizations we know, have a code of conduct and we haven’t had one,” HCHD President Barbara Crowson answered. “Some of the executive committee felt it is incumbent upon us to have one. I recommend this so we can hold our meetings in a professional manner.”
Board members Roy Langford and Tammi English McCreight suggested the code be inserted into the board’s bylaws to make them more enforceable.
“Some of the behavior in these meetings has been out of line, as far as I am concerned,” explained Board Member Carol Dawson. “It has even been mentioned in the newspaper and we thought it needed to be addressed. We can’t control people’s behavior, but we can at least let them know what is expected.”
Rhonda Brown argued the whole idea was not only a waste of time, but of money.
“Why are we spending tax dollars paying an attorney to get information like this together, which is not even enforceable to begin with,” Brown said. “So, tell me why we’re doing this?”
“I as the President, feel a strong obligation to conduct these meetings in a businesslike manner and that’s what we have the attorney for,” countered Crowson. “That’s why he helped with the compilation of this. We’ve had three months to think about it. We’re happy to hear your comments. If a member on the board chooses not to sign it, that is their business, but we’re going to try to adopt the Code of Conduct because if the majority of the board feels we need to do it, that’s the democratic way.”
Board Member Debbie Kelly pointed out some of her constituents refuse to come to the meetings because of “rude behavior toward one another and toward the hospital administrator.”
That part of the code was approved, with Brown, Pipes and Harvey Bruner voting “no.”
The part of the code regarding public comments was also addressed, with Brown noting a new Texas law allows the public to comment on every agenda item and not be resigned to only commenting in the public comment time during the meetings.
Kent Waters, Mid-Coast Medical Center Administrator, said the law also gave boards such as HCHD the right to regulate public comment time and Crowson said the district’s lawyer approved this measure, as well.
The vote came down the same way, with the public comments section of the code being approved.
The Messenger has, in fact, reported on some of the board members’ arguing during some of the meetings, but mostly about outbursts from members of the public in attendance. The people expect passionate debate and for board members to represent them and their interests, especially in such important matters such as taxation and health care for the county. That being said, HCHD meetings are some of the most contentious in the county.
Kent Waters gave an update on hospital operations and the ongoing need for nursing staff.
“We’re doing well, the emergency room has been a little slower this time of year, but we are very proud of our ‘swing bed’ program – that is going very well,” Waters told the board. “We also began the process of credentialing another surgeon. It’s a long process, but that should be ready by February of next year. Like the rest of the country, we are always looking for staff. If anyone knows any RN’s or LVN’s please send them our way – we would love to talk to them!”
It was reported for the month of October the ambulance services received a total of 299 calls, with 197 transports, 80% of them going to Mid-Coast. 15 patients were transferred elsewhere by helicopter.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
