Hardy cancels meeting to 'un-hire' UHS
Author: Brandia Deatherage | Published: December 31st, 2010
An attempt by the hospital board’s new majority to take sweeping action and “cancel the management agreement with University Health Systems” was thwarted by legal minutiae.
One hour before yesterday’s special meeting was to begin, during which the Beaufort Regional Health Systems hospital board would reconsider their plan to hire a University Health Systems management team, the BRHS hospital board Chairman Sandy Hardy, called the meeting off.
Members of the press waited in the hospital lobby for 24 minutes, while a security guard blocked the entrance to the administrative offices and board room, where Hardy met with the five of the eight other board members who showed up for the meeting: Alice Mills Sadler, Hood Richardson, Clifton Gray, Brenda Peacock and Allen Roberson.
After Hardy left the building, Sadler, as the hospital board’s vice chairman, and the other board members held a press conference to explain the situation.
“Unfortunately the meeting was called without following all the proper procedures that should have been in place. That is because our chairman provided us with misinformation about how that meeting was to be called,” said Sadler.
When, during the press conference, the vice chairman was asked by Betty Gray of the Washington Daily News, “Do you think that your chairman deliberately lied to you about the procedures to keep this meeting from happening?” Sadler replied:
“I can’t guess what my chairman was thinking. He sometimes has an agenda, and he wants to get his way, sometimes, in my opinion, I’m not speculating that he lied, by any means necessary. I would hope that he didn’t intentionally give us misinformation.”
Apparently, the three commissioners who called the meeting, Sadler, Richardson and Gray, likely attempted to call an Authority Board meeting using a section of by-laws provided by Hardy on June 24 for calling a Board of Trustees meeting. Sadler had attempted to call a Board of Trustees emergency meeting on June 23, following CEO Bill Bedsole’s resignation, and Hardy canceled the meeting via e-mail from vacation in Costa Rica on the grounds that it was improperly called. The by-laws relevant to calling a Board of Trustees meeting were attached to this e-mail.
By following the instructions to call a Board of Trustees special meeting, the board members would have assumed that three commissioners’ signatures were enough. To call an Authority Board meeting, however, the bylaws state there must be five signatures.
In a telephone interview with Hardy, following yesterday’s press conference, he confirmed that the board members referred to the wrong section of bylaws when calling yesterday’s meeting.
“They attempted to call a meeting of the Authority which has a separate set of bylaws, it’s a separate entity,” said Hardy. “I cannot believe they are trying to blame me, when they did it wrong…Well this crowd wants to run the hospital and they can’t even call a meeting correctly.”
He said he resented having to provide instructions to board members on how to properly call a meeting.
“Now, when I’m in Costa Rica, canceling a fishing trip because Bill Bedsole resigned, Alice Mills Sadler doesn’t even bother to read the bylaws,” said Hardy. “I had to make them aware that we actually had bylaws, and they didn’t even bother to get a copy themselves and read them.”
Other reasons for canceling the meeting, according to Hardy, were the board members’ reference of the “Beaufort County Regional Health System” Board of Trustees, when they should have said “Beaufort County Hospital Association, Inc.” Board of Trustees.
Though Sadler couldn’t be reached to clarify exactly how Hardy had provided the board with “misinformation,” another comment she made during the press conference leaves question as to the possibility of some later instructions from Hardy as to how they should proceed on calling a meeting.
Referring to a July 1 e-mail that she provided copies of to the press, Sadler said “I also sent him an e-mail telling him that I would be requesting this meeting, and that was the time he sent us the procedures for doing it.”
If this statement is true, it would mean that Hardy gave further instructions, since those given on June 24, which he did not reveal during our interview, and Sadler and the others were possibly directed to rely on the wrong section of the bylaws.
Beaufort County Now is in no way presenting this last statement as fact and will continue to attempt to reach Sadler for an interview.
This article provided courtesy of our sister site: Beaufort County Now
One hour before yesterday’s special meeting was to begin, during which the Beaufort Regional Health Systems hospital board would reconsider their plan to hire a University Health Systems management team, the BRHS hospital board Chairman Sandy Hardy, called the meeting off.
Members of the press waited in the hospital lobby for 24 minutes, while a security guard blocked the entrance to the administrative offices and board room, where Hardy met with the five of the eight other board members who showed up for the meeting: Alice Mills Sadler, Hood Richardson, Clifton Gray, Brenda Peacock and Allen Roberson.
After Hardy left the building, Sadler, as the hospital board’s vice chairman, and the other board members held a press conference to explain the situation.
“Unfortunately the meeting was called without following all the proper procedures that should have been in place. That is because our chairman provided us with misinformation about how that meeting was to be called,” said Sadler.
When, during the press conference, the vice chairman was asked by Betty Gray of the Washington Daily News, “Do you think that your chairman deliberately lied to you about the procedures to keep this meeting from happening?” Sadler replied:
“I can’t guess what my chairman was thinking. He sometimes has an agenda, and he wants to get his way, sometimes, in my opinion, I’m not speculating that he lied, by any means necessary. I would hope that he didn’t intentionally give us misinformation.”
Apparently, the three commissioners who called the meeting, Sadler, Richardson and Gray, likely attempted to call an Authority Board meeting using a section of by-laws provided by Hardy on June 24 for calling a Board of Trustees meeting. Sadler had attempted to call a Board of Trustees emergency meeting on June 23, following CEO Bill Bedsole’s resignation, and Hardy canceled the meeting via e-mail from vacation in Costa Rica on the grounds that it was improperly called. The by-laws relevant to calling a Board of Trustees meeting were attached to this e-mail.
By following the instructions to call a Board of Trustees special meeting, the board members would have assumed that three commissioners’ signatures were enough. To call an Authority Board meeting, however, the bylaws state there must be five signatures.
In a telephone interview with Hardy, following yesterday’s press conference, he confirmed that the board members referred to the wrong section of bylaws when calling yesterday’s meeting.
“They attempted to call a meeting of the Authority which has a separate set of bylaws, it’s a separate entity,” said Hardy. “I cannot believe they are trying to blame me, when they did it wrong…Well this crowd wants to run the hospital and they can’t even call a meeting correctly.”
He said he resented having to provide instructions to board members on how to properly call a meeting.
“Now, when I’m in Costa Rica, canceling a fishing trip because Bill Bedsole resigned, Alice Mills Sadler doesn’t even bother to read the bylaws,” said Hardy. “I had to make them aware that we actually had bylaws, and they didn’t even bother to get a copy themselves and read them.”
Other reasons for canceling the meeting, according to Hardy, were the board members’ reference of the “Beaufort County Regional Health System” Board of Trustees, when they should have said “Beaufort County Hospital Association, Inc.” Board of Trustees.
Though Sadler couldn’t be reached to clarify exactly how Hardy had provided the board with “misinformation,” another comment she made during the press conference leaves question as to the possibility of some later instructions from Hardy as to how they should proceed on calling a meeting.
Referring to a July 1 e-mail that she provided copies of to the press, Sadler said “I also sent him an e-mail telling him that I would be requesting this meeting, and that was the time he sent us the procedures for doing it.”
If this statement is true, it would mean that Hardy gave further instructions, since those given on June 24, which he did not reveal during our interview, and Sadler and the others were possibly directed to rely on the wrong section of the bylaws.
Beaufort County Now is in no way presenting this last statement as fact and will continue to attempt to reach Sadler for an interview.
This article provided courtesy of our sister site: Beaufort County Now
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