Anniston council seeks Attorney Generals Opinion involving RMC Board Meetings

The Anniston city Council agreed Monday to seek an attorney general's opinion on whether the Regional Medical Center board must comply with state open meetings law. They also approved the terms of a deal to end various legal disputes with the board.

The councils final of the year was non-confrontational, with unanimous approval from the council on every issue regarding the RMC board without discussion.

According to the resolution the city passed to seek the Attorney Generals opinion, the city wants to know if the board is a health care authority or a governmental body that must comply with open meetings law. The question about the board's operational status partially triggered the legal battle between the city and the board.

Alabama law allows for the creation of health care authorities that can control public hospitals and are exempt from open meetings laws.

According to the board's amended and restated bylaws, it has all the powers of a health care authority, including being exempt from compliance with open meetings law.

The resolution argues, however, that the board was never reincorporated as a health care authority as required by state law and should still be considered a governmental body as was stipulated when the board was created by city ordinance in 1974. The resolution argues that the board is a governmental body, because local governments appoint most of its members, and therefore by state law, the board must be open to the public.

The board is comprised of 15 members. The city appoints seven members, while the city of Oxford, the city of Jacksonville and the Calhoun County Commission each appoints two members. The chief of the medical staff at RMC and one other physician elected annually by the medical staff of the hospital also serve on the board.