IPC to address appointment process

Published 6:00 am Monday, February 11, 2019

The Iberia Parish Council will try to clarify the appointment process for medical staff representatives of the Iberia Medical Center at its meeting Wednesday night.

The appointment for those members became an issue late in 2018, when two physicians seeking to be appointed said they were turned away and instead forwarded their resumes directly to the council for consideration. When the council asked the IMC Medical Staff Executive Committee to re-advertise and reconsider applicants for the seat, the committee did so. But when it recommended a candidate, the council chose against the recommendation in a 9-4 vote.

There are  two items on the agenda. One is an ordinance to deal with local verbiage, the other a resolution asking legislators to address issues with the state statute that governs the IMC and how appointments to the board are made.

“I think that the local ordinance is going to end up being deleted,” said District 6 Councilwoman Natalie Broussard, who has been involved in the council’s handling of the issue. “The second action, a resolution, is to clarify the state statute. It will be a resolution of support for our legislators to fix the state statute because parts of with regard to the board are vague.”

The issues with the statute came to light after Sen. Fred Mills was requested to review the rules. A state Senate attorney said there was some imprecise language that left the composition of the board, whether it was seven members or nine members, up in the air.

“There was some vagueness, whether there were seven members or nine,” Broussard said. “So we have to ask them to fix that.”

Broussard said that the council may also ask that the statute make it clear who the appointing authority for the two medical staff representatives on the IMC board.

“What I think they are trying to do is to have the Medical Staff Executive Committee the appointing authority for those two seats,” Broussard said. “So you will have two members appointed from the medical staff and seven that the council will approve.”

The council is also expected to authorize Parish President Larry Richard to enter into an agreement with the Port of Iberia for use of the former Dynamic Industries office as an office and training center for the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office and also an agreement with the Iberia Parish Recreation and Playgrounds Commission for maintenance of the Lydia Veterans Memorial Building. 

During the council’s Finance Committee hearing, it will discuss adding a new position to Sewerage District #1 for an assistant director at $50,000 a year.

The Iberia Parish Council meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the council meeting room on the fourth floor of the Iberia Parish Courthouse, 300 Iberia St.