An Olympia-based, self-proclaimed “open government advocate” has filed a lawsuit against Jefferson County Public Hospital District No. 2, the hospital CEO and several of its board members, alleging violations of the state’s Open Public Meetings Act. 

Arthur West, the plaintiff, filed the lawsuit in Jefferson County Superior Court on Oct. 23 — the day after Matt Ready was censured by the Jefferson Healthcare Hospital Commission. 

“This lawsuit echoes many of the concerns I’ve raised over the past months,” Ready wrote on his website, saying he had no prior knowledge of it. “It’s disappointing that it has come to this—legal action against our own district—but it underscores how far we’ve strayed from the principles of open governance.”

According to the filing, the lawsuit centers around hospital officials participating in “unlawful secret deliberations” to form a new regional health entity known as the Peninsula Health Alliance (PHA). 

“Their whole scheme to set up a private entity seems sketchy, and if it is on the level and in the public interest, what have they got to hide?” West told The Leader. 

West has filed OPMA lawsuits against several cities in Washington with varying success. 

“As a person who has experience with our broken health care system I am concerned that the Jefferson County Health District appears to be seeking to privatize health care under the cover of darkness,” West said. 

The suit alleges that “between February and May 2025, Jefferson Healthcare CEO Mike Glenn and Board Chair Jill Buhler Rienstra convened and facilitated multiple meetings, executive sessions and serial communications among a quorum of commissioners without proper public notice, agenda posting, or lawful statutory exemption.” 

West names Glenn, Rienstra, and all other board members, minus Ready, as defendants in the suit, as well as Jefferson Healthcare as a governing body.

“The filing appears to pertain to previously disclosed, reviewed and addressed issues,” Rienstra said when asked to comment on the suit. “We do not believe that there is merit to the filing or that the OPMA has been violated by the Board, and should this matter proceed further we look forward to responding in court.

West is requesting that the court declare that Jefferson County Public Hospital District No. 2 and its commissioners violated the OPMA, and that it impose a $500, per commissioner fine, for each violation under RCW 42.30.120, to be awarded to the plaintiff. He also requests that the court urge the defendants from conducting unauthorized meetings, serial communications or executive sessions, and to void any actions or decisions made during unlawful meetings.