Citizens face hard decision with hospital

The citizens of east Adams County are going to have to make some very difficult decisions regarding public property and services in short order. Some have faced decisions like these by saying, “You can’t fight city hall” or trust a paternalistic government to make the decisions and hope that everything works out all right. These people need to reevaluate those views.

Let’s take the hospital as an example. Up front, I would like to note that I was very impressed by the openness and candor of the board members and staff that spoke at the meeting last Thursday. However, the trust we have placed in our elected officials in the past has been less then reassuring, as needed repairs have been ignored, while some $8 million has been banked in “emergency funds.” Well, now we have an emergency and as Rahm Emmanuel said when he was Obama’s chief of staff, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” That is because it provides the opportunity to do things that would never be done otherwise. That said, I do not think that all of our elected officials would think this way, but I am concerned that given the relatively low citizen turnout last Thursday, one or two might and if we citizens are not diligent, future elected officials might choose to think that way.

Those assets include the existing hospital facilities, which the current board has stated are in dire need of repair. Though we are possibly going to be asked to vote on a bond to fund an expansion or replacement of those facilities, we still will have to live with the existing structure for at least two more years, regardless of those possible proposals. Therefore, well before that time, we need to have presented to us, detailed plans on how the problems with the existing facility are going to be dealt with in the short term and for the long term, a clear set of plans for the proposed expansion or replacement of that facility, along with plans for transition. In short, we citizens of east Adams County have an obligation to discuss these matters among ourselves, interact with our elected officials with regard to nature of those discussions, and encourage those elected officials to continue to be open and candid in informing us of the status of the assets that have been entrusted to them, so that we can make truly informed and intelligent decisions when we go into the voting booth.

Dave Miller, Ritzville