| B. CHAPTER SUMMARY |
As public entities, hospital districts
are subject to state laws mandating public meetings and accessible
records. The meetings and records requirements for public hospital
districts are substantially the same requirements that govern all
local governments in Washington state. |
| Open Public Meetings and Public
Records |
| This chapter provides the reader with two comprehensive
publications on open meetings and public records. First, the Attorney
General of Washington’s Open Records & Open Meetings Desk
Book provides a very good overview of the meetings and records requirements
for all public entities, including public hospital districts. Second,
the Municipal Research Services Center’s Public Records Disclosure
for Washington Cities and Towns provides an excellent overview of
the Public Records Act and its application to local governments. This
chapter also provides the reader with a sample
public records policy from the City of Des Moines that hospital
districts may consider using as a guide in developing their own public
records policies as required by law. |
| Updated versions of the Attorney General’s Office
Hand Book and the Municipal Research Services Center Public Records
publication can be found at: |
|
| Hospital District Specific
Issues |
| The publications contained in this section of the
legal manual include nearly all the information hospital districts
require about the Open Public Meetings Act and the Public Records
Act. However, there are a couple of hospital district specific issues
that must be mentioned in this context. |
| First, hospital districts (unlike other local governments)
enjoy an additional exemption to the open meetings requirement. Hospital
districts may convene an executive session when dealing with certain
issues related to clinical privileges. RCW 70.44.062 states: |
| All meetings, proceedings, and deliberations of the
board of commissioners, its staff or agents, concerning the granting,
denial, revocation, restriction, or other consideration of the status
of the clinical or staff privileges of a physician or other health
care provider as that term is defined in RCW 7.70.020,
if such other providers at the discretion of the district’s
commissioners are considered for such privileges, shall be confidential
and may be conducted in executive session: PROVIDED, that the final
action of the board as to the denial revocation or restriction of
clinical or staff privileges of a physician or other health care provider
as defined in RCW 7.70.020
shall be done in public session. |
| Another area of particular importance to public hospital
districts concerns medical records. Medical records are not subject
to public inspection and copying. Chapter 70.02 RCW, which governs
the release of medical information, applies to public hospital districts.
[See RCW 42.17.312] Public hospital districts also enjoy a unique
exemption to the Public Records Act for quality improvement and peer
review documents. [See RCW 42.17.310(hh)] |
| With respect to the Public Records Act it should be
noted that hospital districts, are subject to the requirement that
the district either make available a current index providing information
about the records kept by the district or produce a resolution specifying
why compliance with the requirement would be unduly burdensome. The
district must also develop procedures concerning public records requests.
[See RCW 42.17.260]
An example of one municipality’s procedures is provided in the
materials for this chapter. |
| Records
Management and Retention |
| Various laws require hospital districts to retain
records for various periods of time. The Washington Secretary of State’s
Archives and Records Management Division, in cooperation with the
Association of Washington Public Hospital Districts, has developed
a Records Management Manual and General
Records Retention Schedule for Public Hospital Districts. The
Manual may be accessed on the Association of Washington Public Hospital
Districts web site at www.awphd.org. |
| The Archives and Records Management Division insures
the proper management and safeguarding of public records. The state
archivist manages the archives of the State of Washington, and among
other things is responsible for keeping interested agencies informed
on current techniques for efficient and economical records preservation.
[RCW 40.14.020] |
300 Elliott Avenue West, Suite 300, Seattle WA 98119 | 206.281.7211 |