FOR YOUR EYES ONLY: UAMS Melony Goodhand said some information about the public hospital couldnt be put in writing because of the FOI.

  • FOR YOUR EYES ONLY: UAMS’ Melony Goodhand said some information about the public hospital couldn’t be put in writing because of the FOI.

One more tidbit from Joann Coleman’s unearthing of documents related to the idea to combine UAMS and St. Vincent into a single health-care system (UAMS’ protestations to the contrary, Dr. Dean Kumpuris’ characterization of a publicly supported hospital being operated by a Catholic group seems apt)

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Here’s a document that includes an e-mail (link corrected) from Melony Goodhand, vice chancellor at UAMS and the chief financial officer, to Clifford Stromberg, the Washington merger lawyer advising UAMS (without approval from the UA Board of Trustees). She writes in response to a list of questions he posed:

I will just answer the last two (during my meeting). Due to our freedom of information act we have no emails and little in writing about our plans. It is not wise for me to put them here to you.

And in a blended “nonprofit” merged hospital operated in part or in whole by Catholic Health Services, how much luck do you think Joann Coleman would have getting information?

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