VIDALIA &8212; A recent ruling by the Louisiana Board of Ethics limits the pool from which Riverland Medical Center can pull hospital board candidates, Administrator Vernon Stevens said.

The ruling found Metro Ambulance in violation of ethics laws because of a contract it had with Riverland Medical Center.

Officials with Metro and Riverland Medical Center said the whole thing is a misunderstanding and any semblance of impropriety has been erased.

&8220;It doesn&8217;t amount to $500 worth of business over the two years of the contract,&8221; Stevens said. &8220;This is the first time I&8217;ve seen this kind of ruling.&8221;

The ethics violations arose from the fact that Metro employs Jim Graves as both an emergency medical technician and as public relations director for its Mississippi operations.

Graves has served on the Board of Commissioners for the Concordia Parish Hospital Service District Board of Commissioners, which runs Riverland, since 2001.

Graves said there was no attempt to steer business to Metro. &8220;I get paid the same whether Metro transports anyone or not,&8221; he said.

Riverland is obligated by Medicare to transport patients to another hospital when it can&8217;t perform a needed service. In those cases, the hospital must provide an ambulance company to do so, which requires a contract between the two.

As there are only two licensed ambulance operators in Concordia Parish, Riverland had contracts with both and rotated jobs between the handful of times a year such a transportation job is needed.

&8220;For us to be in compliance with Medicare, I was out of compliance with the board of ethics,&8221; Graves said.

When ambulances are used to transport accident or emergency patients to the hospital, payment is provided by the individual or an insurance company.

Metro was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine for violating Sections 1113B and 1117 of the Code of Governmental Ethics for employing Graves while he served on a board with which it does business.

The fine was suspended pending future compliance.

The contract has been voided and Graves remains on the board, Stevens said, but the ramifications of the ruling will make it harder for Riverland to find good people to lead the hospital.

&8220;What it does is reduces the pool of people who can serve on the board. We try to get people who have knowledge of health care and the business of health care.&8221;

In July, Stevens received an advisory opinion from the Board of Ethics concluding that Riverland could not appoint Tommy Massey to the board while he was employed by Heritage Manor Nursing Home, with which Riverland has transportation contracts.