By William ‘Bill’ Bohnert
My name is William “Bill” Bohnert and I am the newest member of the Perry County Hospital board of Trustees. I was elected to that position in April of 2022 by the Perry County Voters.
The definition of that position is defined as a fiduciary (Trustee) of the properties and funds that belong to the citizens of Perry County.
During the last year I have been involved in discussing the possible merger with Mercy Hospital and in February of this year, the majority of the Trustees voted to go ahead with the merger. The vote was not unanimous and I want the citizens to know why I voted no.
All of these meetings and discussions were held in closed sessions and confidentiality agreements were signed forbidding the release of this information while the discussions were taking place. This is legal by state statute in Missouri. The same state law also requires (160.021.2 Mo.) that once this lease by a public governmental body is executed that the meeting minutes, vote or public record has to be released to the public.
The board of Trustees will not be able to stand behind a cloak of confidentiality agreements on this issue. At this time by confidentiality agreement I can’t release any specifics of the contract.
I do want the public to know that once the agreement is signed that all of this information will be available for their viewing.
I also believe that the public will be shocked to see what was agreed upon by the board of Trustees minus myself. Stay tuned.
Perry County Memorial Hospital Board of Trustees Member,
William “Bill” Bohnert