Letter to the Editor: Authority

Posted

To the Editor
About a year ago, in this section of the Newspaper I asked: Why does our local hospital have two Boards? Not having received a printed answer, I’ll try again. But first...
Our local hospital is one entity, so why does it have two names: The Perry County Health System(not to be confused with the Perry County Health Department)
and The Perry County Memorial Hospital( PCMH}?
If there is only one local hospital , why two Boards: The Board of Trustees and The Board of Directors? Is one Board private and one Board public? Is there some government statute somewhere giving the Board of Trustees the authority to censor the campaigning of a candidate for the Board of Directors? Is the Board of Directors nothing more than ‘a rubber stamp’? Who really is in charge of the local hospital ­the Board of Trustees?
It’s my understanding the local hospital is owned by the tax-payers of Perry County. The Board of Directors, together with the County Commission, should have the final authority to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a Mercy Hospital partnership.

Jim Maloney
Perryville