News company sues MS Health Department for names of long-term care homes with COVID deaths
The Mississippi State Health Department has been withholding the names of long-term care homes where COVID-19 has spread, prompting a lawsuit from a newspaper and a call from the Mississippi Press Association to release the records.
The lawsuit and call for transparency come as State Health Officer Thomas Dobbs moves forward with a plan to test 27,000 long-term care home employees and residents for COVID-19 over the next two weeks in Mississippi. Long-term care homes have the highest death rate from COVID-19, Dobbs said.
“In the best of times, Mississippi citizens are entitled to adequate disclosure of information from the State Department of Health and other agencies that is in the interest of public welfare,” MPA president Kevin Cooper, senior vice president of Boone Newspapers Inc., said in a news release.
“And certainly in these times of a great public health crisis, MSDH should do more to release information the public deserves to know about where and how this disease has spread. We call on MSDH to release the information sought in this lawsuit and to commit to better transparency as we all seek a safe path to recovery.”
Hattiesburg Publishing Inc., publisher of The Pine Belt News, recently filed the lawsuit against MSDH, Dobbs and two other MSDH employees in Hinds County Chancery Court. The newspaper is asking that a judge order MSDH to immediately produce the records, plus pay attorney’s fees and court costs.
Joshua Wilson, managing editor of PBN, filed a public records request April 6, the lawsuit says. He wanted the names of long-term care homes in Forrest County with COVID-19 outbreaks , names of owners, and the number of residents affected and tested.
He did not ask that the MSDH disclose the identities of residents, information that is private.
The Mississippi Public Records Act requires government entities to respond to records requests within seven working days. If the request is denied, the law says the public agency must cite a specific exemption that allows the records to remain private.
The MSHD responded to Wilson’s request April 31, saying, “As a result of the necessary work that must be done to combat COVID-19, we do not have the capacity or resources to respond to your request at this time.”
This is not a valid reason for withholding public records, according to state law.
The Pine Belt news says in its lawsuit:
“The people of Forrest County and, more broadly the state of Mississippi, have a right to know where and how severe the particular outbreaks of COVID-19 are as a matter of course.
“The fact that the state is under the threat of a global pandemic only works to strengthen the argument that, even if the requested information would otherwise be exempted (the Plaintiffs find no provision of law to support such an exemption), the people should have ready access to complete and transparent information regarding COVID-19.”
An emergency hearing before Chancery Judge Tiffany Grove is expected to be set in the case.
The MSHD is separately tracking COVID-19 cases in long-term care facilities. The latest totals, as of May 16, show 1,461 cases and 243 deaths.
Statewide, 11,123 COVID-19 cases are reported with a total of 510 deaths, meaning almost 48% of deaths were reported from long-term care facilities.
This story was originally published May 17, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
