Some want justice in SRHS situation; others want settlement
PASCAGOULA -- About 200 Singing River Health System retirees are breaking away from the main Chancery Court case -- whether they want to or not -- in an effort to find out what really happened at the county's hospitals that jeopardized their pension plan.
Chancery Judge Breland Hilburn severed their case from the whole Wednesday morning. Their attorneys, Earl Denham and Harvey Barton, objected to severing the case, and formally asked Hilburn to step down.
They said in court the case, under Hilburn's judicial guidance, has failed to produce documents and testimony from key players in SRHS' financial debacle.
Hilburn did not step down Wednesday. Not all attorneys in the main case believe he should. There could be argument later on that issue.
Denham said they started a year ago asking for the information about hospital operations and decisions in order to find out who was responsible for the financial failures. He said Hilburn appointed a special master, who shut down discovery after they conducted two depositions and the hospital produced reams of incomplete, unindexed or useless documents.
They tried to depose the former CEO of the county hospital system, Chris Anderson, and Jackson County Supervisor John McKay and the court shut them down, Denham said.
"Don't rush this to settlement," Denham asked the judge. "Allow discovery and find who did what."
Hilburn said, "It's under my belief the documents from the finances of Singing River Health System retirement have been produced," enough to determine what money was lost and how to compensate the retirees.
"What you're looking for, Mr. Denham, is not accounting but accountability. What happened in the retirement trust," Hilburn said. "That may be important, but not important at this time."
It was suggested that now that the cases are severed, Denham and Barton and their 200 clients -- many of whom have been devoted to picketing the hospital system and its attorneys over the past year -- could continue to pursue "justice" independently of the other cases.
Hilburn expressed concern that Denham was going to mess up a federal settlement that could secure the pension fund for all retirees for the future.
Denham expressed concern that by continuing to delay discovery in the case, the judge will allow the statute of limitations to run out on offenses by the hospital system.
Denham has begun filing claims of fraud in the case in Circuit Court.
In his argument for discovery, Barton told the judge,"It boggles my mind that the other attorneys are satisfied with two depositions" when he said with those depositions, they were able to prove fraud.
"How much more can we discover if we're allowed to look under rocks they don't want us to look under," Barton said.
He claimed the settlement attorney Jim Reeves is heading up with a class action that is yet to be sanctified in federal court is not financially sound and fails to ensure the future for the retirees.
"There's not enough money coming in," Barton said.
Reeves, on the other hand, reported to Hilburn that the settlement is going well, as planned, and is all but complete.
SRHS is agreeing to the settlement. After an agreed settlement is established, Reeves plans to ask the federal court of the Southern District to establish a class for a class-action lawsuit. The federal judge would hold a hearing before taking action. Reeves said during that hearing, anyone who objects and wants to opt out of the class can ask the judge.
All pensioners would be members of the class, Reeves said, unless they opt out.
This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Some want justice in SRHS situation; others want settlement ."