Editor:

On April 7, 2020, there is an upcoming vote on the ballot in Cedar County to pass a tax levy for Cedar County Memorial Hospital.  I have lived in El Dorado Springs my entire life. Through the years we have used the hospital for several things. With four kids there were always stiches, sprains, breaks or illness that required a trip to the ER.

I don’t think we as a family truly appreciated the facility that we have with our local hospital until the last couple of years. My Mom, Georgia Fletcher, suffered from heart disease, which eventually took her life in October of last year. There were countless trips to the ER, most ending in hospital stays and eventually the Cedar County Memorial Hospital Swing Bed Program. It took such a burden off my brother and me to have her here so close to home.  We had also had Mom in hospitals in larger cities in the state, and visited clinics again in larger metropolitan areas. I can say with much confidence that she never received as good of care in other areas as she received at Cedar County Memorial Hospital. I think part of the reason is the “small town America” mentality. We all know each other in one way or another, which just makes people care more. The nurses, therapist, social worker, kitchen staff and cleaning people, each treated her like their own Mom. She loved them like family.

I realize that no one ever likes to see their taxes go up, but I would gladly take an increase to see the loved ones of others get the love and treatment like our Mom received. If it takes this increase to insure that kind of care and, my family and I are voting YES. I hope you do, too.

Sherri Norman

El Dorado Springs