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.

Latest News

Welcome Subscription Offer!

Special Subscription Offer

Thank you for inquiring about the Welcome Offer, which expired on January 30. Please be on the lookout for new subscriber offers in the future. If you would like to subscribe now, please click the button below or call (860) 435-9873.

Thank you!

Keep ReadingShow less
Frozen fun in Lakeville

Hot-tub style approach with a sledge-hammer assist at the lake.

Alec Linden

While the chill of recent weeks has driven many Northwest Corner residents inside and their energy bills up, others have taken advantage of the extended cold by practicing some of our region’s most treasured — and increasingly rare — pastimes: ice sports.

I am one of those who goes out rather than in when the mercury drops: a one-time Peewee and Bantam league hockey player turned pond hockey enthusiast turned general ice lover. In the winter, my 12 year-old hockey skates never leave my trunk, on the chance I’ll pass some gleaming stretch of black ice on a roadside pond.

Keep ReadingShow less
Garet&Co returns to Norfolk

Emma Brockett, Josalyn Cipkas and Tiffany Oltjenbruns in rehearsal for “From All Angles.”

Elias Olsen

Garet Wierdsma and her northern Connecticut-based dance company, Garet&Co, will return to Norfolk for their third annual appearance with Dance Workshops on the next three Sundays, followed by two performances of “From All Angles” in Battelle Chapel on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Feb. 23, at 4 p.m.

In “From All Angles,” audience members will witness Garet&Co translate three of the works presented at their fall show, “Can’t Keep Friends,” danced in the round, where viewers can witness each piece from a new angle.

Keep ReadingShow less