The annual Lancaster General Health Board of Trustees meeting took place at the Stager Auditorium at 5 pm on Wednesday. The format was changed from last year and it went as follows: A one hour and fifteen minute agenda was presented, then the meeting adjourned for one hour, after which there were three additional presentations. Alex Henderson made the announcement that at the adjournment the board would be available to answer questions from the public.
Thus in its sole meeting open to the public of the year, public charity LGH prevented members of the public from addressing its board, officers, the medical community, and the local media should it be allowed by its editors to cover and write about the event.
About 125 people were in attendance. Former state senator Gib Armstrong is on the board. Former county commissioner Pete Shaub was an audience member.
At the adjournment, NewsLanc reporter Christiaan Hart-Nibbrig approached board members and other LGH officials, introduced himself, and said that NewsLanc’s publisher Robert Field was out of the country but wanted Hart-Nibbrig to read a letter at the meeting during the public segment. He handed a copy personally to Chair Alex Henderson, President Tom Beeman and Executive Vice President Jan Bergen. Senator Armstrong received a letter as well.
There were NO PRINTED agendas to the meeting. The reporter asked Bergen for a printed copy. She took him to Lines, who assured him he would forward an agenda on Thursday. T he financial report — submitted by Dennis Getz — took all of 96 seconds of presentations. In that report, Getz said LGH “was in good financial condition.” His report showed that the bond/credit rating of the hospital was very good. He also pointed to other healthy financial indicators which are up.
The entire meeting had a perfunctory, boilerplate feel to it… A ‘dog and pony show’.
Failure to permit public comment may have been a violation of federal regulations. In any case, this is still another example of how LGH disdains public input and criticism, now taking the unprecedented and arrogant step of preventing the well represented Lancaster medical community in attendance from being exposed to views from the public.
It was disappointing. There have been very few willing to speak up in the face of such power and now there are none allowed.
Pitiful.