If ever a need existed for the sun to shine on a public entity, public hospitals in Mississippi are a prime example of a severe need for solar disinfectant.

Natchezians know that firsthand.

A bill before the Mississippi Legislature, which would have ensured transparency in the operations of public hospitals in our state, was disassembled in a House committee this week, by making the bill only apply to a single hospital on the Gulf Coast.

That action should have all Mississippi residents up in arms.

Natchez is not alone in our suffering as a result of poor decisions and outright negligence by those we entrusted to oversee and manage what was our county owned hospital. Public hospitals all across our state, because of mismanagement and outright theft in some instances, have left taxpayers holding the bag for millions and millions of dollars in losses.

These hospital boards and management companies have been shielded in our state because public hospitals are exempt from our state’s Open Meetings and Public Records Acts. The loophole allows public entities to operate in the shadows. Opening the hospital’s boardroom will not violate patient confidentiality, but it will allow the stockholders of the public trust to gain a small bit of confidence again. The exemption has cost Mississippians dearly. Natchez and Adams County residents certainly understand that.

Each of us should write or call our state representatives and senators and insist they get solidly behind legislation that will require all public hospitals to operate as every other public institution is required to do in Mississippi.

Had such legislation been in place during the debacle involving the bankruptcies and sale of Natchez Regional Medical Center, the outcome could have been far more positive and less costly. Thanks to our archaic laws, however, local taxpayers likely will never know just how badly they were swindled.