When it comes to government agencies, “transparency” is a key word. And agencies can’t be transparent without being accessible to their constituents.
We expect the men and women we choose to lead us to be open and honest about what they’re doing, especially as it directly affects our lives and communities.
This also goes for the special districts that serve us, including Castle Rock Hospital District.
In the recent discussion of whether or not ambulance employees were allowed to unionize, Castle Rock stressed that it is an “exempt political subdivision,” created and operating under Wyoming statutes and governed by a Board of Trustees who are chosen in democratic-style elections under the Wyoming’s Special District Elections Act of 1994.
While this does give the hospital district a unique relationship with its employees, it also makes the district even more accountable to the voters of Green River. As it makes decisions impacting not only its employees and patients but also the community of Green River and Sweetwater County as a whole, the hospital district needs to be sure its actions are clearly explained and its leaders are accessible for feedback.
We believe the board members and hospital leadership are dedicated members of the community who truly care about doing their jobs effectively and serving the public. However, as part of their service, we hope they will put more effort into being accessible.
Currently the Castle Rock Medical Center website, the website for the district, has a list of the board members and short bios for each member under the “About Us” section, which you have to scroll to the bottom of the page to find. There is not, however, any contact information for any of the board members. There is also no information on the page about when or where board meetings take place. Even if you know to show up to the clinic for a board meeting at 5 p.m. on the fourth Tuesday of the month, the doors to the conference room will likely be closed, with no signs to indicate it is being used for the board meeting.
The hospital district website also has no staff directory and no information about the hospital leadership, such as names or contact information for individuals like the CEO and CFO.
The “Contact Us” page for the website simply lists the clinic’s address, hours, and main telephone number. Calling the number gives a directory to try to guide you to the right department, but, like most of the website, is primarily focused on patients and doesn’t give much information for those with more overarching inquiries.
One of the main areas the hospital district’s website is missing is a place for news and press releases. While it may be true that the district doesn’t put out press releases very often, when it comes to events like the recent discussions over a union election, the district rightly wants to release statements to share its perspectives. However, there appears to be nowhere for these statements to be shared that comes directly from the district. Two press releases related to recent events can apparently only be found on one local news website and were not sent to the Star. We have requested but have yet to receive a copy of these specific releases, and we have requested to be sent press releases in the future.
We hope to do our part in sharing what’s happening with the district, but when it’s hard for the media to find out what’s going on, how much harder is it for the general public?
We appreciate the effort Castle Rock Hospital District goes to in serving the community, and we can only imagine how busy everyone is and what all goes on behind the scenes. Still, as the hospital district is a public entity with elected officials serving the community, we hope they will work to be more accessible in the future.
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