We certainly welcome the morsel of news from the Lawrence County commissioners that they are moving forward with plans to do something with the former River Valley Medical Center facility.

Tuesday, May 08, 2001

We certainly welcome the morsel of news from the Lawrence County commissioners that they are moving forward with plans to do something with the former River Valley Medical Center facility.

But we are concerned that the commissioners continue to meet behind closed doors to discuss what’s going to happen to the closed and bankrupt hospital.

Certainly, our elected commissioners should be able to tell us something about their plans for the building. What would be wrong with their holding a public hearing to listen to suggestions from taxpayers about what to do with the facility?

As a newspaper, we abhor closed-door meetings where the public’s business is decided without feedback from the people who pay the bills.

We’re not saying that anything bad is going on in those closed meetings, but the the lack of information does raise concerns about the future of our hospital. After all, the River Valley trustees decided behind closed doors much of what led to the hospital’s failure.

To date, the only substantive information about the River Valley closure has come from the court and the receiver who is handling the facility. Those reports are welcome, but they shed little light on what the commissioners are thinking and doing.

It has been nearly four months since River Valley closed. We think it is time for the commissioners to give the taxpayers a status report on their efforts to find a use for the vacant hospital building.