Council gets final attorney bill for hospital mediation

Taxpayers are footing the $44,766 bill for the mediation attorney hired to try to straighten out differences between Hospital Service District 1 board members and two Franklin Foundation Hospital physicians.
When attorney Gary McGoffin was hired in December by the St. Mary Parish Council an initial $10,000 cap was placed on the services. The limit was later raised to $25,000 and now that the mediation is over the council learned Wednesday of the final bill.
The hospital has agreed to pony up a third of the cost, or just over $17,000, with the parish paying the balance, according to parish Chief Administrative Officer Henry “Bo” LaGrange. The latter item was approved by the parish council Wednesday.
The council offered the mediation service following the public outcry over the termination of physicians Drs. Steven McPherson and Donna Tesi in October.
Since then in special and regular meetings hospital board members reinstated and then extended McPherson and Tesi’s then current contracts through March 31. Also during that time the hospital saw the arrival and departure of a chief executive officer on board just over six months, the resignation of its chief nursing officer and the departure of an orthopedic surgeon.
Many local residents have attended both board meetings and council sessions in support of McPherson, internal medicine, and Tesi, general surgeon, since the controversy began.
Those supporters may view the outcome less than favorably since Tesi was given 90 days as of April 1 to close her practice in the hospital’s medical office building and McPherson’s contract was renewed for just one year.
Wednesday, parish council attorney Eric Duplantis paid accolades to the council for stepping in.
“I would like to say how proud I am to be a part of what this council did to solve that problem,” Duplantis said. Without the intervention, he added, “I’m certain it would have not resolved as it did and we would be in a bad situation with the hospital. … I think that you should be proud and every citizen of Franklin should be proud.
“We all worked together and we fixed the problem,” he said. “We should celebrate this. This was a tremendous, tremendous, tremendous solution to a problem that looked like it was unsolvable.”
“I would like to see what we paid for and what was resolved,” said Councilman Lionel “Butch” Metz in asking for a report on the outcome.
Duplantis said he would consult with McGoffin on what information can be released.
In other business the council:
—Told Scott Greene that a legal opinion by Duplantis determined that his request to place a gate across the southern end of Cotten Road cannot be done since it is a public road that provides access to the Intracoastal Waterway. Greene owns the property on both sides of the road and said he fears potential injury lawsuits if someone were to fall into the canal and drown. The area is used by fishermen in daylight hours, but Greene said there’s often people “dumping trash, doing drugs and having sex,” at other times. He told the council that he will explore other options which he said, “you won’t like.”
—Welcomed the members of the Central Catholic Girls Softball team, winners of the Class 1A state championship. The council passed a resolution recognizing the accomplishment.
—Heard from Councilman David Hanagriff that he intends to seek the parish president’s seat during fall elections.
—Adopted ordinances on the declaration of surplus property adjacent to City Recreation Center property in Franklin; reduction of the number of members on the Board of Commissioners of the Water and Sewer Commission 1 from seven to five members; the levy of the 2015 library and law enforcement taxes; and an intergovernmental agreement and act of exchange with the City of Franklin.
—Introduced an ordinance requiring the council and all public bodies under its jurisdiction to invite and advertise for requests for proposals for professional services before awarding such.
—Passed resolutions on a cooperative endeavor agreement with the Department of Natural Resources on Wilson’s Landing Boat Launch improvements; execution of a contract and various amendments with the Division of Administration on the state Community Development Block Grant; amendment to the professional services agreements with CB&I Environmental & Infrastructure, Inc. on the Harry P. Williams Memorial Airport runway and taxiway rehab project, and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; a certificate of substantial completion on the critical facilities wind retrofit project; and a professional services agreement with Miller Engineers & Associates on road improvements for Ralph Darden Memorial Parkway.
—Approved a request to reallocate $3,000 of the $15,000 allocated to the Town of Baldwin from the gaming receipt fund for renovations to the park to be used to pay an invoice owed to Skippers Sporting Goods in Morgan City for uniforms and equipment for baseball team members.
—Approved a request by Councilman Sterling Fryou to allocate $30,000 from the sanitation fund for replacement of fire hydrants in Siracusaville.
—Referred to finance committee a request by the City of Morgan City for funds in the amount of $15,000 to purchase equipment and material toward development of a dog park and to buy additional equipment for its skate park.
—Deferred a request from the Town of Berwick on behalf of its Volunteer Fire Department requesting its share of the three-quarter percent sales tax funds and gaming fund for the 2012-2014 fiscal years totaling $58,602, as well as the 2015 allocation. The request will be considered after audit returns come in.