SUN HERALD | Editorial: Legislature should pry open public hospitals
The Mississippi Legislature should revoke the exemption it gave public hospitals in the state from the Open Meetings Act.
Lawmakers had an opportunity to do that just months ago when state Sen. Nancy Adams Collins introduced legislation to remove the exemption.
The bill was referred to the Senate’s Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Committee, which Collins chairs.
But the Northeast Mississippi Republican could not muster enough support for her own legislation to win approval by her own committee. So it died.
It ought to be revived.
Obviously, our own support for the measure has been bolstered by recent revelations about Singing River Health System mishandling its finances and pension plan.
But the concern is not limited to the Coast.
As the Natchez Democrat editorialized at the time Collins’ bill was killed by inaction, “we had hoped against hope that Senate Bill 2404 might be passed. The measure would have removed the exemption in Mississippi’s Open Meetings Act that allows publicly owned hospitals to hold meetings in private.
11/8/14
Magnolia Tribune
