Parish president takes seat on hospital board

In a move that had Franklin Foundation Hospital board members scrambling for answers, St. Mary Parish President David Hanagriff declared at the group’s monthly meeting on Wednesday that he was, in fact, a member of the board according to language in the parish charter.
According to the charter and Hanagriff, he is, as parish president, a member of the hospital board and subsequently he is not obligated, like every other member of the public, to leave the room during the board’s executive session for “strategic planning.”
According to Section 3-10 of the St. Mary Parish Home Rule Charter, under “powers and duties of the president,” the charter provides that the president is “a nonvoting member on all boards, commissions, and authorities.”
At one point during the meeting, after the public comment portion of the meeting had passed, Hanagriff took a seat at the table and asked for clarification on an issue about medical staff by-laws that had caused some debate between Chief of Staff Dr. Stephen McPherson and FFH Chief Administrative Officer Craig Cudworth.
Before Hanagriff had the chance to finish his inquiry, Quorum Health Resources Regional Vice President Don Smithburg (Quorum Health Resources is FFH’s management firm) interrupted Hanagriff and asked the board if the parish president was allowed to participate in the proceedings.
It was at this point Hanagriff told the board that, as parish president, he was a board member and had the right to participate as such in the discussion.
Smithburg was the first to question Hanagriff’s presence at the table. “Is this a public session?” Smithburg asked. “Because I’m not sure if this gentleman (Hanagriff) is a board member.”
Hanagriff replied, “I am a board member. As parish president, I serve on every board in this parish.”
FFH’s legal counsel Lanzi Meyers requested documentation supporting Hanagriff’s claim that he was a board member.
Hanagriff immediately supplied a copy of the parish charter. Meyers said she would examine the charter but said the document would have to abide by state law to be valid in supporting Hanagriff’s right to serve on the hospital board.
“Let me also say, this is a home charter,” Meyers said. “You have to be in compliance with Louisiana law. Just because you have a home charter doesn’t mean it’s in compliance with Louisiana law. We will have to review it.”
Hanagriff responded to Meyers that he was confident the parish charter would meet the requirements of state law.
“I think you’ll see that it’s in compliance,” Hanagriff said. “You can review it as long as you like. It’s very simple.”
The issue that set off the debate about Hanagriff’s role on the hospital board concerned Cudworth’s contention that an item on the medical staff’s by-laws had not been settled. Hanagriff asked Cudworth for details about the problem. Cudworth refused to discuss the issue with Hanagriff.
“Not in public session,” Cudworth said.
“Why is that?” Hanagriff asked.
“Not in public session,” Cudworth repeated.
“Are the by-laws public?” Hanagriff asked.
“The by-laws are public,” Cudworth said.
“So the by-laws are public but the discussion of the by-laws is not public?” Hanagriff asked. “I’ll ask the rest of the board. The by-laws are public but the discussion about the by-laws is not public? Is that what you are telling me? As a public citizen, I’m asking is the discussion of the by-laws public?”
Smithburg and McPherson then weighed in on the conversation. Smithburg questioned the direction of Hanagriff’s inquiry.
McPherson questioned the board’s reluctance to discuss matters in the public portion of the meeting.
“Is there confidential information in the by-laws?” McPherson asked. “This is a public hospital. You are trying to do all this behind closed doors.”
Smithburg replied, “I’ve been working at public hospitals since before you were born.”
After the brief discussion, the board went into executive session and Hanagriff attended that session. Matters discussed in executive session are not divulged to the public or the media. Hanagriff did discuss the previous matter involving the medical staff by-laws, told the Banner-Tribune.
“Basically, the medical staff presented their by-laws to the board to be approved,” Hanagriff said. “Craig Cudworth said there was an issue with the by-laws therefore they weren’t going to approve them tonight. I asked what was the issue. They said that was confidential. How can it be confidential if the by-laws are public? How is it confidential if it’s a public document? And I got no answer to that.”
Hanagriff also commented on his assertion that he is a member of the FFH board of commissioners.
“I also stated to the board tonight that I was a member of the board,” Hanagriff said. “According to the charter, the parish president is a non-voting member of every board in the parish. I stated that to the board and they basically stated ‘no I am not based on state statutes.’ I believe I am a member of the board and until they can prove otherwise I will serve as a member of this board.”
Cudworth also commented on the issue with the medical staff by-laws as well as Hanagriff’s claim to be a member of the board.
“In this particular instance, there is something that is not in there (by-laws) that is supposed to be in there according to regulation,” Cudworth said.
Concerning Hanagriff’s claim, Cudworth replied simply that the matter had been referred to legal counsel.
“I don’t know the answer,” Cudworth said. “He has a legal opinion. We have asked our attorney to clarify that.”