Save Sharon Hospital efforts and slogan may be counterproductive

Every so often, this newspaper will run guest editorials from readers in our communities. Here is one, submitted by Lloyd Baroody of Lakeville.

Rural hospitals have closed all over the country because many were no longer economically viable.  We are fortunate and should be grateful to have such a fine health care facility as Sharon Hospital in our midst.  I’m afraid that if we insist on the hospital maintaining the clearly underutilized Labor & Delivery (L&D) unit, it might contribute to the eventual demise of the hospital sooner rather than later.

We need to accept that the demographics have significantly changed in the Northwest Corner.  The population has shifted more to older folks like myself who need very different services than L&D.  Today is not the same as the 1950s and 1960s when I grew up here and there were many young families having lots of children.  And it is unlikely that the demographics will revert to the old days due to huge deficit of affordable housing required by younger, less affluent families, who are the folks having children and most likely to use an L&D unit.  Accordingly, I totally get why the Sharon Hospital made the decision to modify the mix of services they offer.  It is common sense.

“Save Sharon Hospital” as a slogan was an unfortunate choice and reflects unnecessary hyperbole similar to the exaggerated political ads one sees on television.  As far as I know, the hospital doesn’t need to be saved; it’s not about to go out of service.  Rather, the community at large needs to be saved from being deprived of a hospital that could one day go away if folks insisting on the maintenance of economically unviable services have their way — which could end up being a Pyrrhic victory.

I was treated at Sharon Hospital recently and asked three staff members in the room what they thought of the Save Sharon Hospital slogan.  They were not happy, saying that it is making it more difficult for the hospital to recruit staff.  Potential candidates have wondered whether they should even apply for a job at the hospital because Save Sharon Hospital sounds like the place might go under.  The slogan is misguided, misleading, and has had unintended consequences.

It would be nice if all of the efforts of the Save Sharon Hospital folks could be redirected to getting more affordable housing in the area.  If they were successful at that, then Sharon Hospital would have sufficient need for an L&D unit, and it could become feasible once again.

Since 1960, Lloyd Baroody has been a resident of Lakeville, where he grew up, and has had the benefit of over six decades using our local hospital that he doesn’t want to see pushed into economic unviability.