Governor’s attorney airs appointment issues

As early as 2003, shortly after she took office as governor, the director of appointments expressed concern to Gov. Sebelius that the Kansas University Hospital CEO and the Hospital Authority Board were not following the law that requires three names to be submitted to the governor for each position open or expired on the board. This concern was also shared with the KU Hospital CEO. Instead of submitting “a slate of not less than two nor more than three for each vacancy,” as required by K.S.A. 76-3304(e), the CEO submitted the same three names as candidates for three vacancies, effectively preventing the governor from having any meaningful voice in the selection process.

On several occasions, the director of appointments requested additional names and suggested the names of people who had indicated an interest in serving on the Hospital Authority Board. Each time, the CEO submitted only one name for each opening rather than the two to three names required. Gov. Sebelius has never considered board members who were not sent to her by the CEO.

In 2006, the governor and lieutenant governor-elect discussed the situation of non-compliance with the hospital CEO and the attorney for the Hospital Authority.

In two recent editorials the editor of the Lawrence Journal-World erroneously stated that the governor broke Kansas law regarding appointments to the KU Hospital Authority Board when, in fact, for years, the hospital CEO and board did not follow the law in recommending appointments to the board.

It would appear that the editor either failed to investigate the facts before writing his opinion column, or simply disregarded them. Gov. Sebelius complied with the law governing hospital board appointments at all times. As a matter of fact, the governor has refrained from submitting new names for consideration by the Senate because she did not want a changing board to potentially impact these important discussions. The editor’s suggestion that Gov. Sebelius violated the law is simply wrong.