CHESAPEAKE \u2014 Following the recent departure of Chesapeake Regional Healthcare President and CEO Reese Jackson, members of the hospital authority board are declining to share additional details about the circumstances.<\/p>\n
The health care system announced<\/a> Monday that Jackson\u2019s tenure ended Saturday. He had held the position since 2016. No reason was shared at the time of the announcement.<\/p>\n The hospital is governed by the Chesapeake Hospital Authority, an 11-member body that met in special-called meetings Friday and Tuesday. Several board members at Tuesday\u2019s meeting declined to comment on Jackson\u2019s departure.<\/p>\n At Tuesday\u2019s meeting, the board members unanimously approved an \u201cagreement\u201d following an executive closed session that spanned more than an hour. But the board declined to discuss the agreement and cited Freedom of Information Act exemptions when asked for a copy of the approved document. When members came out of the closed meeting, they did not specify for the record what the approved agreement was, and chair Dee Gilmore declined to tell a reporter what the agreement regarded.<\/p>\n The Virginian-Pilot reached out to both board clerk Daviana Wright and hospital spokesperson Tricia Hardy for a copy of the adopted agreement Wednesday. Around 5 p.m. Wednesday, Hardy responded saying the document was being withheld entirely as it \u201ccontained personnel information concerning an identifiable individual,\u201d citing Virginia Code that relates to exclusions<\/a> from the state Freedom of Information Act. Hardy also cited another provision<\/a>, which states that records \u201crecorded in or compiled exclusively for use in closed meetings\u201d can be exempt from public disclosure.<\/p>\n But the agreement adopted Tuesday was voted on during the open, public portion of the meeting, right before adjournment. Virginia code states that no record \u201cotherwise open to inspection under this chapter shall be deemed exempt by virtue of the fact that it has been reviewed or discussed in a closed meeting.\u201d Additionally, Virginia law states that records can be disclosed<\/a> with appropriate redactions.<\/p>\n Members of the Chesapeake Hospital Authority Board are exclusively appointed by Chesapeake City Council, including two members who are licensed medical workers, according to Virginia state code<\/a>. Members serve for four years across no more than two consecutive terms and receive $250 per in-person meeting.<\/p>\n The authority is also governed by a specific Virginia code that grants the board additional exemptions for conducting public business in closed sessions beyond what\u2019s allowed under Virginia\u2019s Freedom of Information Act. Tuesday\u2019s meeting had three topics listed on the agenda: June planning meeting, personnel matter, and committee discussion. The board cited three reasons for going into closed session. The first was to \u201cdiscuss general operational matters and planning that will affect the competitive position\u201d of the authority, outlined in the authority\u2019s section of Virginia code, according to a copy of the motion used to enter into closed session.<\/p>\n The second reason was to \u201cdiscuss the assignment, appointment, and performance of specific public officers, appointees, or employees\u201d of the authority. The third\u00a0was for consultation with \u201clegal counsel employed or retained by\u201d the authority regarding \u201cspecific legal matters\u201d that require legal advice.<\/p>\n Board members at Tuesday\u2019s meeting also attempted to adjourn the executive session while still meeting in closed session. Virginia law<\/a> requires a body to officially reconvene the open session to certify the end of the closed session with a roll call vote. Any vote for action taken following a closed session must be conducted in the open meeting. After a reporter objected Tuesday, the board reconvened the open meeting and formally conducted a roll call vote intended to certify that only lawfully exempted matters were discussed in the closed session.<\/p>\n The board also met for a special-called meeting on Friday, a day before Jackson\u2019s departure. A copy of that agenda obtained by The Pilot shows the board met for \u201clegal consultation\u201d and \u201cboard discussion\u201d in an executive session scheduled for 4 to 8 p.m. When asked about any votes made or documents approved at that meeting, Hardy told The Pilot \u201csuch documents do not exist.\u201d<\/p>\n Megan Rhyne, executive director of the Virginia Coalition for Open Government, said the policy of FOIA is that \u201cthe affairs of government are not intended to be conducted in an atmosphere of secrecy.\u201d Rhyne said the lack of specificity or disclosure on what or who is being discussed in closed session is concerning.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it\u2019s hard for a member of the media \u2014 much less a citizen, an individual citizen who doesn\u2019t have your savvy \u2014 to get basic information about what the government is doing, what it is they are taking their votes on, that would be very concerning to me,\u201d Rhyne said. \u201cAnd certainly not in keeping with the policy of FOIA.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson\u2019s departure comes as the Chesapeake Regional Medical Center faces both\u00a0a class-action lawsuit<\/a> filed by hundreds of patients and a federal health care fraud investigation. Jackson was named as a defendant in a lawsuit in which nearly 900 women claim Chesapeake Regional and its executives failed to stop former gynecologist and obstetrician Javaid Perwaiz from performing medically unnecessary surgeries on them. Perwaiz is serving a 59-year federal prison sentence<\/a> after a jury found him guilty<\/a> in 2021 of defrauding private and public insurance programs of over $20.3 million by performing unnecessary procedures, including irreversible sterilizations, on female patients.<\/p>\n