The public hospital in Memphis, Regional One, has been working “night and day” for the past nine weeks with private hospital Baptist Memorial on a plan to go in together to create freestanding emergency departments in the eastern part of Shelby County, limiting the number of people with any knowledge of the idea very small.
The plans were finally publicly revealed at a special called board meeting of the Shelby County Heath Corporation August 12, 2015. Notice of the meeting, as required by state open meetings law, was available but the agenda item to be discussed was described as “Board Resolution Approving Transaction and Allocation of Transaction Funds. Notice there is no mention of a joint venture with a private corporation and no mention of freestanding emergency departments. Based on comments from those who did know about the purpose of the board meeting, it can be concluded the language of the agenda item was intentional for the purpose of obscuring the subject of the meeting.
Since the public had no knowledge of the proposed joint venture because of the secrecy and all the partnership entails prior to the board approving the plan, there was no opportunity for the citizens and taxpayers to let board members know what the public thought of the idea.
This is not open and transparent government. It is not giving the citizens the chance to participate in their self-government.
Shelby-Memphis Open Government 