Some people seek redemption to correct a mistake or right a wrong. This can be painful and might require a great deal of courage.

Butler Memorial Hospital recently announced a third option to solve its facilities’ problems — to build a new off-campus outpatient facility and renovate the current hospital for inpatient services.

Is this an attempt for redemption by board of trustees chairman William Bessor and hospital chief executive officer Joseph Stewart? Are they trying to regain the trust of the Butler community or is this more “smoke and mirrors”?

It is with a sense of cautious optimism that I welcome this new option. My optimism is also tempered by the speculation that Mr. Stewart’s employment contract includes a bonus clause if he builds a new hospital.

Hospital officials and some trustees have a well-documented record of stonewalling. Most recently, Dr. Philip Lenko, a hospital trustee and president of the hospital’s medical staff, spent his own funds on legal fees to sue the hospital for access to information he deemed necessary for the proper discharge of his trustee fiduciary responsibilities.

Dr. Lenko recently commented in this newspaper that, while he welcomed a third option, he was “very surprised” that he had to learn about the proposal via a public announcement rather than in the boardroom.

You can understand my caution when Messrs. Bessor and Stewart don’t communicate plans with all trustees.

What has caused a third option? Is there a negative change in hospital finances? Was it the community pressure and the 12,000-plus petition signatures that were delivered to the Pennsylvania state attorney general?

I had a brief encounter with one of the trustees on May 18. He told me, “Ron, keep up the good work. I think it’s starting to have an effect.”

I assumed he was referring to my guest columns on this page.

I told him, “You have the authority to correct the problem; all I have are words. Please do the right thing.”

On June 13, along with legal counsel, former hospital trustee Dr. Ronald Cypher, Dr. William Dicuccio, former Butler County Commissioner Joan Chew, Butler Eagle publisher Vernon Wise, Penn Township resident Jack Beiler, former Butler City Councilman Tom Burkley and I delivered the petitions to the attorney general. The attorney general and his staff met with us for an hour, giving us the opportunity to express our concerns.

The attorney general asked us not to comment publicly about the contents of the meeting and allow him to begin his investigation into the matter.

We will only learn of attorney general actions if he takes the hospital to court for possible violations of Pennsylvania nonprofit laws.

The process is very simple if Messrs. Bessor and Stewart and the trustees want to regain the public trust. It’s my opinion that a public forum is required where the third option is compared with building on a new site or rebuilding on the current site.

Openness and communication will build trust.

At this forum, Butler Memorial administrators and consulting architects should list the plusses and minuses of each option, all capital costs for each option, any differences in annual operating costs, services provided and the number of beds associated with each service.

They also should identify the number of employees needed for each option. The public outrage has included concern over the elimination of services.

Fewer services means fewer employees, especially fewer nurses. Hospital employees deserve to know the possible impact of each option on their future employment.

It is absolutely essential that the forum include a public question-and-answer section.

Mr. Stewart will not regain community trust if he opts for another misleading and expensive public relations campaign of direct mail, ads in the newspaper, or radio and cable TV spots. The public knows there are better ways to spend health care dollars.

I made a similar public forum suggestion in a Jan. 23, 2004, letter to the trustees. I suggested a forum comparing building a new hospital on a new site with rebuilding on the current site.

I wrote in the letter, “This is an extraordinary step, but distrust of the board and administration continues to grow. It’s imperative that you regain the public trust before moving forward. If you resist, then I can only speculate on the problems that might follow. It’s my view that the hospital has lost control of the issue.”

My suggestion was ignored, and we all know the problems that have followed over the 20 months since I wrote the letter. Construction might be under way today if public trust had been regained many months ago.

I’ve known some of the trustees for many years. They are good people who care about our community. I’m puzzled by their behavior.

I ended the January 2004 letter with, “I know many of you have a lifetime of community service in Butler County. I strongly urge you not to allow this controversy to tarnish a hard-earned reputation. Please do the right thing.”

The trustees must not miss another opportunity to regain public trust by denying a public forum when the third option study is complete. Trustees must remember they are the ultimate authority at the hospital.

Mr. Stewart will be gone if the hospital loses its independence in 10 years because of poor decisions in 2005 and 2006. The media will remind us of the names of today’s trustees responsible for the loss. I would not want my name on that list.

I once again say to the trustees: “Please do the right thing” and regain the public’s trust.