Pascagoula, Miss.-based Singing River Health System wants to remove a board member because his business is in allegedly in direct competition with the hospital, but that board member told local media, "I will not resign."
Board member Clarence Dubose, longtime local business owner of Medi Mart Pharmacy and We Care Hospice, was appointed to the board by Jackson County (Miss.) Supervisor Melton Harris, according to the Sun Herald. This is the second appointment Mr. Harris has made this year — his first appointment was declined because the appointee owed money to the hospital. Mr. Harris told the Sun Herald he found it offensive both his appointments have been rejected. "This is the second minority I've sent before them [SRHS] and they found reason to reject them both," he told the newspaper.
Mr. Dubose called for an opinion from the Ethics Commission to determine if his membership would be ethical. The commission determined that Mr. Dubose could stay on the board so long as he did not do business with SRHS or vote on issues related to services that could compete with his hospice and pharmacy businesses, according to the report. However, the commission also said he would have to "constantly exercise great caution and repeatedly and carefully recuse himself from an indeterminable number of board discussions," according to the report.
Mr. Dubose told the newspaper he had enough experience and knowledge of the law to know when to recuse himself.
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