Published: June 19, 2009 07:34 am      

Letters for June 19, 2009

Tri-Towns area needs full hospital

Dr. Marianne Soden, chief executive officer for the Tri-Town Regional Hospital, is uninformed as to why The Hospital in Sidney was closed. The Hospital was not closed because of a lack of community support. It was closed because of a lack of imagination and the ineptitude of the members of the hospital and Sidney town boards. They tried to cut costs by cutting services, forcing patients to go elsewhere and then claimed that community support was lacking.

Before services were cut, the entire third floor, except for those parts dedicated to obstetrics and intensive care, was filled with surgical patients. The entire second floor was filled with medical patients and peds. After services were cut, surgical, medical, peds, and intensive care patients were all on the second floor.

This created a severe shortage of beds, forcing ER patients to be transferred to other hospitals.

The Tri-Town community can easily support a full-service hospital. I look forward to the day it will become a full-service hospital again as one is very much needed in our community.

Tania M. Benkovitz

Guilford

Cemetery vandals cruel, thoughtless

First, thank you to Police Chief David Halaquist and Officer Brian Laauser for investigating the graffiti on the Munn headstone in Walton Cemetery. A job well-done.

I would like to know what is wrong with the teenagers these days! I have never in my life seen so much disrespect for the deceased. My husband and I went to the Walton Cemetery to visit my sister’s grave, among other relatives. We drove around and I was appalled when I pointed out to my husband what was spray-painted on the Munn headstone.

Let me ask you two teenagers something. What if that was a relative of yours? Did you two think that the Walton Police Department wouldn’t investigate or nobody would notice? Perhaps you two didn’t think everything through. How would you feel if 666 and a red heart with black border was spraypainted on your family’s headstone? Do you realize these headstones are not cheap? Do you not have any morals? I give our Walton Police Department two big thumbs up for investigating this matter. I hope these two teenagers will be paying for a replacement headstone for the owners. There is no excuse in the world to be so cruel. There is enough violence in this world. Let these people rest in peace.

I also hope these two teenagers get justice for what has been done. I can’t imagine how the Munn family must feel. My deepest sympathy to the Munn family.

Karen S. Van Valkenburg

Walton