 ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS GREG ABBOTT | |
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August 29, 2006 Ms. Carol Longoria
OR2006-10013 Dear Ms. Longoria: You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act (the "Act"), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 258026. The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (the "university") received a request for a specified internal review of the university's Residency Program. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information. Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This section encompasses information protected by other statutes. Section 161.032 of the Health and Safety Code provides in part: (a) The records and proceedings of a medical committee are confidential and are not subject to court subpoena. . . . (c) Records, information, or reports of a medical committee . . . and records, information, or reports provided by a medical committee . . . to the governing body of a public hospital . . . are not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code. Health & Safety Code § 161.032(a), (c). A "medical committee" is defined as any committee, including a joint committee of a hospital, medical organization, university medical school or health science center, health maintenance organization, or extended care facility. Id. § 161.031(a). The term "medical committee" also includes "a committee, including a joint committee, of one or more of the entities listed in Subsection (a)." Id. § 161.031(c). Section 161.0315 provides in relevant part that "[t]he governing body of a hospital [or] medical organization . . . may form . . . a medical committee, as defined by section 161.031, to evaluate medical and health care services . . . ." Id. § 161.0315(a). The precise scope of the "medical committee" provision has been the subject of a number of judicial decisions. Memorial Hosp.-The Woodlands v. McCown, 927 S.W.2d 1 (Tex. 1996); Barnes v. Whittington, 751 S.W.2d 493 (Tex. 1988); Jordan v. Fourth Supreme Judicial Dist., 701 S.W.2d 644 (Tex. 1986). These cases establish that "documents generated by the committee in order to conduct open and thorough review" are confidential. This protection extends "to documents that have been prepared by or at the direction of the committee for committee purposes." Jordan, 701 S.W.2d at 647-48. Protection does not extend to documents "gratuitously submitted to a committee" or "created without committee impetus and purpose." Id. at 648; see also Open Records Decision No. 591 (1991) (construing, among other things, statutory predecessor to section 161.032). You state that the submitted information was created by the university's Graduate Medical Education Committee (the "GMEC") for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. You inform us that "[t]he GMEC is composed of faculty and medical residents charged with evaluating various aspects of the [u]niversity's medical departments and residency programs" and that "the [GMEC] makes evaluations aimed at assisting the [u]niversity with program management in areas such as department leadership, faculty, and residents." You further state that "[t]he GMEC evaluation also necessarily includes a candid examination of the level of competence in patient care and treatment exhibited by the faculty and residents." After reviewing your arguments, we agree that the GMEC is a "medical committee" as defined by section 161.031. Accordingly, the university must withhold the submitted information under section 161.032(a) in conjunction with section 552.101. This letter ruling is limited to the particular records at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other records or any other circumstances. This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For example, governmental bodies are prohibited from asking the attorney general to reconsider this ruling. Gov't Code § 552.301(f). If the governmental body wants to challenge this ruling, the governmental body must appeal by filing suit in Travis County within 30 calendar days. Id. § 552.324(b). In order to get the full benefit of such an appeal, the governmental body must file suit within 10 calendar days. Id. § 552.353(b)(3), (c). If the governmental body does not appeal this ruling and the governmental body does not comply with it, then both the requestor and the attorney general have the right to file suit against the governmental body to enforce this ruling. Id. § 552.321(a). If this ruling requires the governmental body to release all or part of the requested information, the governmental body is responsible for taking the next step. Based on the statute, the attorney general expects that, upon receiving this ruling, the governmental body will either release the public records promptly pursuant to section 552.221(a) of the Government Code or file a lawsuit challenging this ruling pursuant to section 552.324 of the Government Code. If the governmental body fails to do one of these things, then the requestor should report that failure to the attorney general's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. The requestor may also file a complaint with the district or county attorney. Id. § 552.3215(e). If this ruling requires or permits the governmental body to withhold all or some of the requested information, the requestor can appeal that decision by suing the governmental body. Id. § 552.321(a); Texas Dep't of Pub. Safety v. Gilbreath, 842 S.W.2d 408, 411 (Tex. App.--Austin 1992, no writ). Please remember that under the Act the release of information triggers certain procedures for costs and charges to the requestor. If records are released in compliance with this ruling, be sure that all charges for the information are at or below the legal amounts. Questions or complaints about over-charging must be directed to Hadassah Schloss at the Office of the Attorney General at (512) 475-2497. If the governmental body, the requestor, or any other person has questions or comments about this ruling, they may contact our office. Although there is no statutory deadline for contacting us, the attorney general prefers to receive any comments within 10 calendar days of the date of this ruling. Sincerely, L. Joseph James
c: Mr. Brian Collister
POST OFFICE BOX 12548, AUSTIN, TEXAS 78711-2548 TEL: (512) 463-2100 WEB:WWW.OAG.STATE.TX.US |