As Hazel Hawkins Hospital searches for a financial collaborator to help keep the doors open, one hospital board candidate has called attention to a possible illegal meeting that was planned and then canceled. Meanwhile, a hospital board member says the group has held meetings that violated the Brown Act, which facilitates public participation in local government.
San Benito Health Care District Zone 2 candidate Frank Barragan said when he questioned the hospital board’s adherence to the Brown Act in an email sent to board members and local media, it apparently triggered the cancellation of a Sept. 8 meeting.
“All of a sudden, the hospital board has come out and said there’s some type of partnership negotiations going on, but there has not been an open session about these discussions,” Barragan told BenitoLink on Sept. 11. “I just wanted to put it out that if they were going to have this discussion please do it in the open.”
The Brown Act is a California law passed in 1953 that guarantees the public’s right to attend and participate in meetings of local legislative bodies, according to California Legislature website.
Hospital board member Dr. Ariel Hurtado told BenitoLink that the Sept. 8 closed session was canceled after word got out that it was taking place, because the board knew it would be violating the Brown Act.
Hurtado also said that the board had violated the Brown Act more than once while discussing the fate of the hospital.
“I hate to admit it, but we did violate the Brown Act,” Hurtado said. “I’m guilty of committing a misdemeanor, along with the rest of the board.”
Hurtado, who has expressed opposition to any negotiations with another district hospital, blames the perceived financial downturn of Hazel Hawkins Hospital on CEO Ken Underwood.
Frankie Gallagher, director of marketing and community relations for Hazel Hawkins Hospital, responded to Barragan’s and Hurtado’s accusations by email: “Per Gary Ray, from Ottone, Leach and Ray, LLP, SBHD attorney, ‘All SBHCD Board Meetings are in full compliance with the Brown Act, including the closed session requirements of California Government Code Section 37606. None of the topics noted in Section 37606(e) apply to the items agendized for Board discussion in closed session.’”
Board member Jeri Hernandez also maintained that none of the closed sessions were conducted without legal representation, therefore, any conversations would not violate the Brown Act.
“Our board has been and will continue to be in complete compliance with the law,” Hernandez told BenitoLink by email. “If any board member discusses conversations outside of the closed session, then that individual will be violating the Brown Act,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez also said she is in favor of any affiliation with another hospital, based on the well-being of Hazel Hawkins Hospital, employees and the community at large.
“For the record we are not for sale,” Hernandez said.
Board member Josie Sanchez reiterated Hernandez’s claim that the hospital is not for sale and that, “…as far as we know we have not violated the Brown Act, per our attorney.”
In the 65 years since the Brown Act became state law, no one has been successfully prosecuted for violating it, according to the First Amendment Coalition (FAC). The coalition also stated that individual citizens can bring three types of lawsuits to enforce the act:
- A suit over a government entities alleged violation of the act based on the that entity’s past violation of the Brown Act;
- A suit to contest or enjoin ongoing or future actions in alleged violation of the Brown Act;
- A suit to void an action taken by a government entity in alleged violation of the Brown Act.
Locally, the San Juan Bautista City Council discussed alleged Brown Act violations Nov. 21, 2017, concerning agenda items that recommended the removal of Planning Commission Chairman John Hopper. In April 2018, there were allegations that the Anzar High School board violated the act during discussions to replace Charlene McKowen, the school’s principal.
Barragan said he is a candidate for the hospital board because he wants to keep the hospital under a majority local control.