A Washington, D.C., ethics official ruled Friday Washington, D.C.-based United Medical Center's board of directors violated the city's Open Meetings Act in December when it excluded the public from its decision to permanently close the city-owned hospital's maternity ward, The Washington Post reports.
Here are six things to know about the situation.
1. Traci L. Hughes, director of the D.C. Office of Open Government, which is responsible for ensuring district officials and boards conduct their business in public when required by law, ruled Friday the board must make an audio recording of its closed-door meeting and roll-call vote, as well as any documents board members reviewed during the meeting, public. The board must also undergo voluntary training on open-meeting requirements, according to The Washington Post.
"[I'm] hard-pressed to find ... any lawful justification the [UMC] board may rely upon to enter into a closed/executive session to accomplish the closure of the hospital OB unit," Ms. Hughes said.
2. Ms. Hughes' ruling came after the D.C. Open Government Coalition, The Washington Post and the Washington Business Journal filed complaints with her office regarding the board's actions, the report states.
3. Following the board's closed-door meeting in December to close the hospital's obstetrics unit, LaRuby May, chairman of the UMC board of directors, said the decision to hold the closed-door meeting had not been unanimous, but that she could not provide the vote tally. She also reportedly could not provide legal justification for holding the closed-door meeting, but claimed she had been advised by the board's attorney it was within the board's legal rights to hold the private meeting, according to the report.
4. At the time of the December vote, the hospital maternity ward had been temporarily closed for months due to safety issues cited by district health officials. However, board officials had reportedly decided to privately move forward with the ward's closure before regulators ordered the temporary shutdown.
5. Ms. Hughes' ruling comes days after the board hired a new operator to take over the hospital. During an earlier board meeting the same day officials hired the new hospital operator, the district's CFO claimed United Medical Center is virtually bankrupt.
6. Ms. May and a UMC spokesperson did not respond to The Washington Post's requests for comment.
To read the full report, click here.
Editor's note: Becker's Hospital Review reached out to United Medical Center for comment and will update the story as more information becomes available.