By PETER HUSSMANN
Baxter Mayor Steve Smith said on Monday that he made contact with the Iowa Attorneys General office in Des Moines last week so that an outside third party could take a look to determine whether the Skiff Medical Center Board of Trustees were following the letter of the law in regard to its hiring of a consulting group and the hospital's refusal to release portions of its operational assessment.
Smith said he provided documentation to an attorney in the department that handles open meetings and open records issues for the state.
The Baxter mayor said he became frustrated after the hospital refused to release any information in regard to the operational assessment conducted by consulting firm B.E. Smith. He said he had only sought information contained in the report pertaining to the future status of the Baxter clinic, a subsidiary of Skiff Medical Center. Last week, a hospital committee announced that none of Skiff's outlying clinics would be closed as part of a reduction in force initiative.
Smith also questioned the process the Skiff board followed in hiring additional consultants to implement the findings of the operational assessment.
In July, interim CEO Francie Jahn entered into contractual arrangements with the consulting firm that provided three additional Smith employees to work at Skiff for at least a six-month period in several different capacities.
Smith said he has yet to hear from the attorneys general office on any determinations it may have made.
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