Boyd wants to see list of potential new Erlanger trustees before approving bill

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST TARGETEDFuture Erlanger board trustees also will have to adopt clear policies reining in their potential conflicts of interest along with provisions punishing members who violate them, according to the legislation.Local lawmakers intend the legislation as medicine for financial and other ills plaguing the public hospital as well as their concerns that the University of Tennessee’s College of Medicine may be engaged in a power play to control the public hospital.”I don’t believe there was a lot of conflict of interest language in the original [1976] act,” McCormick, the bill’s sponsor, said after the measure cleared the first of several legislative hurdles.McCormick said the new provisions were included “on purpose. We want to have a board that is there not for certain constituencies out in the community, but one that is just there for Erlanger hospital.”Erlanger board Chairman Ron Loving later said the hospital already has a strong compliance program.”Whether there’s too much or too little regarding conflict of interest in the legislation, I cannot say at this point,” he said. “I will say that it is very important to look at and to manage potential conflicts of interest at Erlanger.”A group of Erlanger staff members is reviewing the legislation, he said.CEO SEARCHErlanger’s board of trustees, who will meet Monday, is expected to vote on a new CEO. The finalists are Memphis-based Methodist University Hospital CEO Kevin M. Spiegel; Rear Adm. Donald R. Gintzig, senior health care executive with the U.S. Navy;and Ken D. Haynes, who oversaw St. Joseph Hospital, St. Joseph East Hospital and St. Joseph Jessamine, based in Lexington, Ky.