By RICH GREEN
Moapa Valley Progress
In a contentious 3 – 2 vote, the Mesquite City Council settled its lawsuit with Mesa View Regional Hospital (MVRH) at a meeting held on May 28. The split vote followed a presentation by City Attorney Robert Sweetin who reviewed the terms of the proposed settlement. In addition, a heated public comment period took place which included remarks from MVRH attorney Matthew Dushoff as well as many otherl members of the community.
One Mesquite resident who commented was Steve Lisk, a private attorney. Lisk had previously filed a complaint with the Nevada Attorney General alleging that the mayor and three city council members had violated the state’s Open Meeting Law when they had met individually with MVRH Chief Executive Officer Ned Hill earlier this year to discuss a settlement. Lisk’s complaint had been a factor in the City Council’s decision to not vote on a proposed settlement with MVRH at its meeting on April 9.
Lisk said it was his view that the lawsuit should continue through the “discovery” stage, explaining that approving an agreement to settle now might be seen as an uninfomed decision. That is because all of the information on the dispute had not yet been made available to city council in the discovery stage. Nevertheless, Lisk urged council members to vote their conscience on what was in the best interests of the community.
The MVRH lawsuit arose from the hospital’s decision to close its labor and delivery unit on October 1, 2018. The City of Mesquite claimed that closure of this service was in violation of the initial Development Agreement between the City and MVRH.
The settlement approved last week would not require MVRH to restore labor and delivery services. In fact, it terminates the initial Development Agreement completely, which was scheduled to expire in 2022 anyway. The settlement also provides for the Mayor to appoint a city council member to the MVRH Board and for the hospital to provide the City with progress reports on a semi-annual basis.
In the settlement MVRH also agrees that it will not object to a private birthing center being opened in Mesquite, provided the new center does not compete with the hospital in any gynecology surgical services or obstetrics.
