When it comes to a board of directors, does size matter?

That’s the question that I have posed to state, county and local directors while working on an upcoming story about the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Board.

The five-member health board recently debated whether it should expand.

Here are a few thoughts from Lawrence leaders on what they think works:

• Gene Meyer, president and CEO of Lawrence Memorial Hospital, which has a nine-member board.

“Nine is a good number. It is large enough to have good representation and diversity of opinion, but yet not too large that it’s unwieldy. Regardless of the size, what makes a board successful is the ability to communicate between management staff and the board and the ability to get varying opinions and have a sounding board to create that diversity. The challenge of too big of a board is obviously the time and the effort to get all involved.

• Judy Bellome, executive director of the Douglas County Visiting Nurses Association, Rehabilitation, and Hospice Care, which has a 15-member board.

“The size of our board allows us to have — besides our required physicians and health care professionals — two attorneys, a minister, two business persons, a senior citizen advocate, a banker, a nonprofit administrator and two community volunteers. This diversity is important when representing the whole community. We are currently seeking to recruit board members from Baldwin City, Eudora and Lecompton as well as representatives from the Hispanic and Native American community.”

• Bill Wood, director of K-State Research and Extension — Douglas County, which has a nine-member board.

“I think one key to working with boards is to get a broad representation to bring a broad base of thinking to your board. If everyone on a board is a clone to each other, you limit the potential of brain power for your organization. Years ago I heard the comment ‘If a board always votes in total agreement, there are probably some board members not doing their own thinking.'”

• Cindy Hart, development director of Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, which has a 13-member board.

“We are just looking for good community leaders and those willing to support the mission of the organization. When you have the right people in place and you are able to get consensus and have lots of different opinions and thoughts that go into it and you have a thoughtful approach to things — that’s how things tend to work.”

What are your thoughts?