Mississippi negotiators have less than a week on hospital transparency bill
The deadline for the conference report on that bill is Saturday, said Sen. Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, the bill’s primary author.
The bill, which would subject public hospitals to open meetings and open records laws, passed the Senate unanimously but was changed in the House. First, the bill was amended to apply only to Singing River Health System in Jackson County. That was changed on the House floor but the bill was further amended, essentially replacing the Senate bill with one written by Rep. Hank Zuber, R-Ocean Springs.
That bill would expand the reasons for public hospital boards to go into executive session and would keep physician contracts from the public, Wiggins said. He said his bill would make physician contracts public records once they were executed.
Wiggins said he expects Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves to appoint him and Sen. Nancy Adams Collins, the chairwoman of the Accountability, Transparency and Efficiency Committee, to negotiate for the Senate.
Sunherald
3/23/15
Magnolia Tribune
