the committee may, upon advising the parties, broaden the issues under examination and may base itsdecision, wholly or in part, upon the resolution of issues not originally considered or listed.10.6.9 Rights of Parties. During a hearing, each party may:A. Call and examine witnesses;B. Introduce exhibits;C. Cross-examine any witness on any matter relevant to the issues;D. Impeach any witness;E. Rebut any evidence;F. Request that the record of the hearing be made by use of a court reporter orelectronic recording unit pursuant to the provisions of Section 10.6.14 hereof; andG. Submit a written statement at the close of the hearing.10.6.10 Procedure and Evidence. The hearing need not be conducted strictly according to therules of law relating to the examination of witnesses or the presentation of evidence. Any relevant matterupon which responsible persons customarily rely in the conduct of serious affairs may be considered,regardless of the existence of any common law or statutory rule which might make the evidenceinadmissible over objection in civil or criminal actions. Each party is entitled, prior to or during thehearing, to submit memoranda concerning any issue of law or fact, and to have such memoranda becomepart of the hearing record. The presiding officer may, but is not required to, order that oral evidence betaken only on oath or affirmation administered by any person designated by him and entitled to notarizedocuments.10.6.11 Order of Procedure. The basic order of procedure for the hearing shall be as follows:A. First, the adversary representative shall present the facts in support of the adverseaction, whether through testimony, written evidence or otherwise.B. Immediately following conclusion of the adversary representative's presentation(and any cross-examination by the affected Applicant or Practitioner), the affectedApplicant or Practitioner shall testify in response to the facts and issues raised bythe adversary representative, and shall be subject to cross-examination by theadversary representative. If the affected Applicant or Practitioner does not testify onhis/her own behalf, he/she may be called to testify and examined as if under crossexamination.C. Upon conclusion of the affected Applicant or Practitioner's testimony, the affectedApplicant or Practitioner may then call such other witnesses to testify as to matterswhich are relevant to the issues before the hearing committee.43
D. Upon conclusion of the affected Applicant or Practitioner's presentation (and anycross-examination by the adversary representative), the adversary representativemay introduce rebuttal evidence.E. At any time during the procedure, the hearing committee members may questionwitnesses.10.6.12 Official Notice. In reaching a decision, the hearing committee may take official notice,either before or after submission of the matter for decision, of any generally accepted technical orscientific matter relating to the issues under consideration and of any facts that may be judicially noticedby the courts of this state. Parties present at the hearing must be informed of the matters to be noticed,and those matters must be noted in the hearing record. Any party shall be given opportunity, on timelyrequest, to request that a matter be officially noticed and to refute any officially noticed matter byevidence or by written or oral presentation of authority, in a manner to be determined by the hearingcommittee. The committee is also entitled to consider all other information that can be considered underthese <strong>Bylaws</strong> in connection with credentials matters.10.6.13 Burden of Proof. When a hearing relates to Section 10.1.2 (a), (b) or (d), the Applicantor Practitioner shall have the burden of proving, by clear and convincing evidence, that the adverseaction lacks any substantial factual basis or that such basis (or the action based thereon) is eitherarbitrary, unreasonable or capricious. When a hearing relates to Section 10.1.2 (c), (e), or (f), theadversary representative shall have the initial obligation to present evidence in support of the adverseaction, but the Applicant or Practitioner thereafter is responsible for supporting (by a preponderance ofthe evidence) his/her challenge that the adverse action lacks any substantial factual basis, or that suchbasis (or the action based thereon) is either arbitrary, unreasonable, or capricious.10.6.14 Hearing Record. A record of the hearing must be kept that is of sufficient accuracy topermit an informed and valid judgment to be made by any group that may be later called upon to reviewthe record and render a recommendation or decision in the matter. The hearing committee may select themethod to be used for making the record, such as court reporter, electronic recording unit, detailedtranscription, or minutes of the proceeding. The affected Applicant or Practitioner shall be entitled to acopy of the record upon request accompanied with payment of any reasonable charges associated withthe preparation thereof.10.6.15 Postponement. Postponement of a hearing shall be granted only by the hearingcommittee, in its sole discretion, upon a showing of good cause therefor.10.6.16 Presence of Committee Members and Vote. A majority of the hearing committeemembers must be present throughout the hearing and deliberations. If a committee member is absentfrom any part of the hearing, he/she may not participate in the final hearing committee vote until he/shecertifies that he/she has reviewed the portion of the hearing record covering the portion of the hearingwhich took place during his/her absence. No committee member may vote by proxy. The ChiefExecutive Officer and the Senior Vice President for <strong>Medical</strong> Affairs/<strong>Medical</strong> Director, while notcommittee members, are entitled to and may be present during all proceedings, deliberations and vote ofthe hearing committee as the duly authorized representatives of the Board of Directors.44