Dear Readers,

Last week, as more than 100 community members gathered to pay a final tribute to their beloved St. Andrews Hospital, our governor was in town. But the governor was not at the tribute ceremony. He was attending a Chamber of Commerce event meeting with our business community.

I suspect if he had been at the hospital’s farewell event some of that group would have given him an earful. However, I am not sure he, or any government official, could have kept the hospital open. After all, the hospital is part of a private corporation, Lincoln County Health.

LCH makes business decisions like most private corporations, with major matters brought up to a board of directors. The board votes it up or down.

It is all done in private. The board is under no obligation to discuss anything with the public.

However, the decisions they make behind closed doors involve huge amounts of money, taxpayer money. Much or most of the money used to run the state’s hospitals comes from Medicaid and other government programs.

When our local town officials want to put a roof on the town hall, buy a new pickup truck, or fix the furnace, they discuss it in public.

When the local schools decide to build a building, buy a new bus or change the menu at the cafeteria, they discuss it in public. When the local sewer district wants to replace a lift station, run a new line or buy a new sewer clean-out gizmo, they discuss it in public.

Shouldn’t the hospital do the same? After all, aren’t they spending millions of dollars of public money? Shouldn’t the public be clued in on what projects they are spending our money on and why?

Requiring the hospital boards to hold open meetings is something our governor and legislature could do.

And, another thing they could do is to require the hospital to post their prices. When you go to a restaurant, they give you a menu that tells you the price of this and that. Why not the same in a hospital?

In other states, hospital board meetings are open to the public. In some states, prices of services are posted, too.

Shouldn’t the taxpayers, who pay millions for healthcare services, be allowed to know how their money is being spent?

Just a thought.