Talks continue between City of Anniston and Regional Medical Center Board

Discussions continue between the city of Anniston and the Regional Medical Center board in their mediation talks.  City  officials plan to mediate by phone and email to settle their recent legal disputes in lieu of meeting together in a Birmingham law office.

Bruce Downey, city attorney, said city representatives will likely not reconvene with board representatives in a meeting to negotiate unless it's considered absolutely necessary. The decision comes after both parties spent around 12 hours with a neutral mediator in Birmingham Oct. 28 in an attempt to settle their legal disagreements outside of court.

City and board representatives met last week with former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Thomas Woodall at his Birmingham office.

Both parties decided Oct. 9 to use a neutral mediator after agreeing to try to settle their issues outside of court. If the remaining issues are not resolved by Dec. 9, however, the court will consider them instead.

City Manager Brian Johnson  who attended the meeting, said he felt some progress was made between both parties.

As part of the mediation agreement,  RMC agreed to dismiss its challenge to Johnson's appointment. Also, a temporary injunction from the court kept Kernion as chairman.

All other issues remaining in RMC's lawsuit will be addressed in negotiations with the mediator.

The entire situation is the culmination of a months-long struggle between the city and the board over whether the board is a public entity, how autonomous it is from the city and how much information about the Anniston-based hospital it must provide to the public.