Palm Drive Hospital, short two directors, questioned about open meetings

<p>The Palm Drive Hospital board is facing questions whether it violated California's open meeting laws when two directors met to review proposals to form alliances with other hospitals.</p><p>With two vacancies on the five-member board, any time two of the three remaining board members meet on hospital business they are a majority of the board, and the meeting requires 72-hour public notice under the Brown Act.</p><p>Colin Coffey of Walnut Creek, the board's attorney, said there are gray areas in the interpretation of the Brown Act, but he is urging directors of the Sebastopol hospital to be cautious until the vacancies are filled.</p><p>“I am advising them to adjust the nature of their contacts with other board members for the next two weeks,” Coffey said Thursday.</p><p>Board President Nancy Dobbs said that as a result, Treasurer Chris Dawson is stepping down from the committee that is reviewing the proposals.</p><p>Dan Smith, whose Oct. 6 resignation is one of the reasons the board is facing the issue, on Thursday accused the hospital district of violating the Brown Act on two occasions.</p><p>He pointed to meetings that Dobbs and Dawson held on Oct. 10 with representatives from Adventist Health and on Oct. 17 with Marin General. The meetings also were attended by some Palm Drive physicians.</p><p>“Even if the board could legally meet in closed session with potential alliance partners, it would be in direct conflict with the spirit of the Brown Act,” Smith wrote in a letter to the board Thursday. “The decision to enter into an alliance with a hospital partner is probably the most important decision the board will make on the public's behalf.”</p><p>Adventist Health and Marin General are among the five institutions that have submitted proposals to align with Palm Drive.</p><p>Coffey said Dobbs and Dawson are members of an ad hoc committee, which because it is a temporary committee, is not subject to the Brown Act. However, such committees also are defined as less than a majority of the board. It is not clear if that refers to the actual number of board members or the number of board seats.</p><p>“This is an issue for attorneys,” Coffey said. “I am looking at that and seeing if there are any interpretations.”</p><p>The hospital board has consisted of Dobbs, Dawson and Vice President Frank Mayhew since Smith resigned on Oct. 6. Director Jared Dreyfus died on Sept. 6.</p><p>Dobbs there will be interviews held next week and two new board members selected on Nov. 2 or Nov. 3.</p>