« Ind. Decisions - Court of Appeals issues 8 today (and 11 NFP) | Main | Indiana Courts - "Kelley said he couldn't close the courtroom, but he could make the proceedings 'confidential,' which he did, and then cleared the room" »

Friday, December 18, 2009

Ind. Gov't. - "What St. Vincent Health paid to sponsor school stadium is trade secret" [Updated]

That is the headline to this story today by Mark Ambrogi of the Indianapolis Star.

The ILB was unable to access the Dec. 17th PAC Opinion online, but has written to the PAC requesting a copy, which will be posted here when received. [See below]

The opinion is written by an acting public access counselor, DeAnna L. Brunner, an ALJ at the Utility Regulatory Commission. Today's story reports:

Brunner made the decision instead of Public Access Counselor Andrew Kossack, who determined in late October that he had to recuse himself from a ruling because his sister and mother-in-law had lost their jobs when Zionsville switched from Clarian Health to St. Vincent for its nursing services.
The Opinion was the result of a Star complaint subm itted Sept.30th:
The complaint involved decisions by Zionsville school leaders to keep secret the cost of two separate deals with St. Vincent Health in Indianapolis.

This summer, St. Vincent purchased naming rights to Zionsville High School's new multipurpose stadium, where the football team will play next year. The stadium also will be used for lacrosse and track and field.

Brunner ruled that the amount paid for sponsorship of the stadium is a trade secret under Indiana law and can be kept secret by the Zionsville school district.

The Star's complaint was filed after Zionsville Schools in August switched to St. Vincent Health to supply its medical services and to create a school-based health center for district employees. The school district had twice refused to disclose how much it spent as part of its Health Center Service Agreement with St. Vincent.

Brunner ruled Zionsville Schools did not prove its case to deny telling the public the cost of the medical services, or how much other hospitals had bid in their efforts to win the agreement.

The district argued that information used to figure out how much St. Vincent and other medical providers would pay employees to provide Zionsville's medical services would be a trade secret.

But Brunner noted the agreement did not reveal employee benefit amounts.

Brunner noted in her advisory opinion that "Indiana courts have noted that defining what may constitute a trade secret can be difficult."

An advisory opinion can be used in Indiana to take a public entity to court over the disclosure of public information.

The ILB found this description somewhat confusing.

[Updated at 10:12AM] Thanks to the PAC for promptly forwarding a copy of yesterday's Opinion.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on December 18, 2009 08:08 AM
Posted to Indiana Government