Discussion on the future composition of the Union Hospital District Board of Trustees began in earnest Monday night between members of the Union County Council Committee on Public Health and Social Services and the hospital committee which includes members of the public and the existing hospital district board.

“This is very important to the community,” said public health and social services committee chairman Randall “Chump” Hanvey. “It affects each and every one of us.”

The committee made no decisions Monday but much discussion was held on ways to move forward on handling the issue of having physicians as hospital district board members.

The problem — right now — is that two of the seven existing board members for the hospital district also are employed by the district. That creates a conflict of interest. However, state law, county ordinance and hospital district bylaws read there must be at least three practicing physicians on the board.

“That’s where we’re running into the problems,” Hanvey said.

Finding physicians in Union County who are not employed by the hospital district creates a narrow list of candidates who could fill the two positions in question.

Dr. Chris McWhorter, one of the physicians on the hospital district board who also is employed by the district, brought a few names of practicing physicians who are not employed by the district to the committee meeting. The question was if any of the four people he suggested would be willing or even interested in serving on the board.

McWhorter thinks each would be willing to serve but are waiting to see the outcome of Monday’s meeting.

Community member Gregg Walker agrees — as do the other committee members — the medical staff needs representation on the hospital district board but said there’s many issues that play into where the future of the board lies. The only way to move forward on the issue, in his opinion, is to look at changing the law.

To what extent of change was the topic committee members spent most of their time discussing.

Committee members agreed physician and medical staff representation is vital to the hospital board’s composition.

Hanvey said there has to be some kind of medical staff representation on the district board and the committee was not created to take that away.

“They just bring so much to the table,” Walker said about having physicians on the board. “You just can’t shut the doors.”

However, he thinks changing the hospital district board to include 10 members — seven from the public and three physicians as ex-officio members — could be one option. The physicians on the board then would have input on board discussions and decisions and be able to sit in on executive sessions but no voting powers.

Another option thrown out at Monday’s meeting was having one physician on the board — not employed by the hospital district — perhaps selected by the Union County physicians association that would have voting powers along with a physicians advisory panel.

Opening the door for seven at-large public members to serve on the hospital district board could even give physicians a greater representation with anyone who currently practices or previously practiced medicine to be considered for any of those seven seats.

Whatever the case, Gregg and other committee members agreed the issue needs to be dealt with the correct way as to not force the county to revisit the issue the next time hospital district board seats need to be filled and to make sure physicians and hospital district employees have some kind of representation.

McWhorter was unsure about taking the physician equation away from the hospital district board. He understands the desire and need to make a change, but as a physician he urged committee members to not reduce the amount of representation physicians currently have on the board.

The option of changing the law’s verbage to include not only actively practicing physicians to sit on the board but also retired practitioners was also suggested as an option to correct the issue. Public health and social services committee member Tommy Ford also suggested it could be changed to include others in the medical profession — nurses, pharmacists, etc. — instead of just physicians.

Committee members agree there are too many medically-related decisions the hospital district board makes on a regular basis not to have some kind of medical representation seated on it. What that will end up being is what needs to be determined.

McWhorter and it seemed others on the committee agreed it might be prudent to contact those four physicians mentioned early on in the meeting as possible hospital district board members to determine if they would be willing to serve.

The option would correct the issue for the short term and allow committee members the opportunity to discuss how changes to the law, if any, could be made and what the composition of the hospital district board would look like in the future.

Hanvey suggested the committee come up with its two best options. He wants to hear input from other parties as well, including the local state government delegation, on their thoughts about how the issue could be handled and what it would take to change the law.

He also asked McWhorter to contact those people he suggested at the beginning of the meeting to see if they would be willing and interested to fill the two hospital district board seats in question.

Whatever the committee decides, all the members know the situation is reaching a head. The next round of hospital district board appointments needs to be done prior to those in question expiring on March 31.

“Are we going to be able to find the perfect solution?” Hanvey asked committee members. “I doubt it.”

But something needs to be done.

“The main thing is, people, we got to do what we got to do to keep our hospital — bottom line,” Hanvey said.

“It’s really a golden nugget people take for granted,” added community member Susan Ward.

It seemed in the end a common consensus was that whatever the solution, changes are needed.

The committee will meet again at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 15, to continue discussion on the issue. More information will be presented and McWhorter should have an idea of how many of those four people he suggested would be willing to serve.