Winston-Salem Journal managing editor Ken Otterbourg has a great post today on why SB1006 is important here in North Carolina:

I want to get on my soapbox for a few minutes and talk about SB1006,
which is making its way through the General Assembly. It’s another
example of the slow and steady erosion of North Carolina’s
public-records laws. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Tony Rand, of
Fayetteville, carves out an exemption in the public-records law for
public hospitals when they buy private medical practices.

These purchases have been going on for some time, and are part of
the general consolidation in the medical/health care industry, with
hospitals having primary care practices. Forsyth/Novant has these
arrangements. So does WFUBMC, the other 800 lb gorilla at the opposite
end of Hawthorne Road. These are both private, not-for-profit entities,
and, the argument goes, that public hospitals need the same sort of
privacy if they are going to be able to compete.

It’s a common-sense solution, supporters say. To me, the key word in
this debate is public. A hospital that is owned by taxpayers is a
different entity. The money, the assets, the reputation, it’s all owned
by us. If a private hospital wants to overpay for a clinical practice,
that’s OK. But taxpayers ought to know how public officials are
spending their money.

Yep.