| Request for an advisory opinion from Matthew Brown on whether the wife of the Chief Nursing Officer of Riverside Medical Center can provide services to Riverside Emergency Physician Partners, LLC, which has a contract to provide medical coverage and management for Riverside Medical Center's emergency department. Washington Parish has a population of 47,168. |
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Washington Parish Hospital Service District No. 1 does business as Riverside Medical Center ("Riverside"). Riverside has a private contract with Riverside Emergency Physician Partners, LLC ("REPP") that provides medical coverage and management for Riverside's emergency department. REPP provides similar services to other facilities in addition to Riverside.
Jimmy Siebert is the Chief Nursing Officer at Riverside and is married to Marsha Siebert who is employed as a nurse practitioner for REPP. According to Riverside's Organizational Chart, Jimmy Siebert is the Agency Head of vairous departments, including the Emergency Department.
At the present time, Marsha Siebert does not provide any services to Riverside as all of her work is performed at other facilities.
Marsha Siebert would like to provide services for REPP in Riverside's emergency department. Under the proposed arrangement, Marsha Siebert would be paid by, supervised by and her hours of work would be set by REPP.
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AO 82-02D stands for the proposition that the Board may elect to allow an exception to an 1111C(2)(d) violation when a person is a salaried or wage-earning employee, has no substantial ownership interest in a company, is not an officer, director, trustee or partner of the company, and the employee's salary would not be affected by a contract involving the company and the employee's agency
AO 2008-957 extended the 82-02D exception to a spouse of the public servant facing a potential 1111C(2)(d) violation.
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La. R.S. 42:1111C(2)(d) provides that no public servant and no legal entity in which the public servant exercises control or owns an interest in excess of twenty-five percent, shall receive any thing of economic value for or in consideration of services rendered, or to be rendered, to or for any person during his public service unless such services are: (d) neither performed for nor compensated by any person or from any officer, director, agent, or employee of such person, if such public servant knows or reasonably should know that such person has or is seeking to obtain contractual or other business or financial relationships with the public servant's agency; conducts operations or activities which are regulated by the public employee's agency; or has substantial economic interests which may be substantially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the public employee's official duty.
Ethics Board Docket No. 82-02D provides an exception to Section 1111C(2)(d) of the Code when certain factors are met: (1) the employee must be a salaried or wage-earning employee; (2) the employee's salary must remain substantially unaffected by the contractual relationship; (3) the public servant must own less than a "controlling interest" in the company; and (4) the public servant must be neither an officer, director, trustee, nor partner in the company.
La. R.S. 42:1113A(1)(a) prohibits a public servant, or a member of such person's immediate family, or legal entity in which he has a controlling interest from bidding on or entering into any contract, subcontract, or other transaction that is under the supervision or jurisdiction of the agency of such public servant.
La. R.S. 42:1114 provides that each public servant and each member of his immediate family who derives anything of economic value, directly, through any transaction involving the agency of such public servant or who derives any thing of economic value of which he may be reasonably expected to know through a person which (1) is regulated by the agency of the public servant, or (2) has bid on or entered into or is in any way financially interested in any contract, subcontract, or any transaction under the supervision or jurisdiction of the agency of such public servant shall disclose certain information as set forth in Section 11114.
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Adopt the proposed advisory opinion.
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| Assigned Attorney: |
Greg Thibodeaux |
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