Hospital board’s meetings on view

The Tarrant County Hospital District’s Board of Managers, the body that sets policy for operating John Peter Smith Hospital and the JPS Health Network, crossed a major threshold last week.

For the first time, the board made video of its regular monthly meeting available live on the Internet for Tarrant County residents whose taxes support the district.

We’re well past the dawn of the Internet Age. Live-streaming of open meetings is something every public body should do.

It’s a matter of making public affairs as transparent as possible — and as convenient as possible for taxpayers to oversee.

The hospital district is still working out some kinks in its offering, but Thursday’s meeting was available live through a link on the board’s web page.

A link to archived video was also posted on that page on Monday.

To make live-streaming possible without all the startup costs, the board has moved its meetings to the fifth floor of the Tarrant County Administration Building, 100 E. Weatherford St.

The change in location is something regular attendees will have to get used to, but it achieves an important goal while saving money.

This story was originally published March 14, 2016 at 5:51 PM with the headline "Hospital board’s meetings on view."