Kansas town losing its only hospital

I was born in a small town. After school, I moved to the Kansas City community for 20 years. Then I moved back to my hometown of Larned, Kan. Image my shock after hearing that the hospital I was born in is closing.

We just had a town meeting and found out that Catholic Health Initiatives has put money over lives. Our town will now be the largest in the state without a hospital. This will effect everyone in town — driving extra miles, having to purchase ambulances, hiring more EMTs.

Our state facilities will need more money for overtime for all the extra time they will spend escorting patients and inmates, and our police will need more money for their overtime as well. They will now have to go to another county to get care for their offenders or victims.

We are about to lose our only source of lab testing, our only X-ray facility, long-term care for patients — the list goes on. Why does everything come down to money instead of common sense?

Let’s see if Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius can help. She says she loves Kansas, so save our town and state from unnecessary expenses.

Jennifer Wyman
Larned, Kan.

Comments

[Moral City USA]

Well that is too bad Jennifer, but it sounds like it was a Catholic Church-related business decision.

I grew up in a small KS town much smaller and further southwest than Larned. They have a county hospital. In fact, just about every county in KS has one. It appears your years of relying on the privately-owned health facilities care are over. It sounds like the state prison system was getting a freebie too from the Catholic Church with inmate care.

In rural KS, the county commissioners are primarly responsible for local health care....not Sebilius as a federal govt Secretary. Your commissioners need to act.