Insure Accessible Healthcare Continues

Editor:

Why should I support the Cedar County Memorial Hospital tax levy?

Recently someone asked that question of me, and mentioned that Cedar County Memorial Hospital was “just a band aid station.” I listened to his commentary for a time then responded, “what if you find your father lying in the floor having a heart attack or a stroke? What if you have a deer run out in front of you as you’re going home from work and your vehicle rolls over crushing your neck?”

I explained that my father was one of those people that had a stroke and heart attack. The staff at Cedar County Memorial Hospital took great care of him, doing everything humanly possible before he went on to a stroke unit in a larger facility.

I then explained I was also that person the evening of Jan. 23, 2006, when I was in an automobile accident just north of El Dorado Springs on H Hwy. The professional staff at Cedar County Memorial Hospital took great precaution and care to stabilize and prep me for transport to Springfield. The break was a seriously complex matter, C1, C3 and C4 were crushed (also known as “the hangman’s break”) and the muscle holding my spinal cord had detached. If not for our local hospital I’ve been assured by a neurosurgeon that I would probably not be alive. Thanks to Cedar County Memorial Hospital and God’s grace I came back to raise my children and have the opportunity to be our community’s chamber director. So many rural communities (especially the size of Cedar County) don’t have a hospital.

Let’s talk about services our hospital offers to us. They provide a 24-hour doctor and RN, labs, x-ray, cardiac rehab, physical and occupational therapy, short-term rehab for post-surgery, stroke recovery and more (so you can stay near home). Plus they provide the Senior Life Solutions program, an exercise center, aquatic therapy and more. Do you want to travel an hour every time you need these services?

The Cedar County Health Department is also administered by our hospital. This is of great value to our county; from childhood immunizations, TB skin testing, cholesterol screenings, the WIC program, pregnancy tests and much more. The health department also inspects our restaurants, lodging and daycare facilities. They also print birth and death certificates, take fingerprints for passports, security checks and more. The list goes on and on and on.

As our chamber director I study economic development. I can tell you that when a new business is researching a community for expansion or as a new start-up business they look at two areas in particular; one being the education system, the other is the quality of healthcare in the community. If we don’t have those two components it makes economic development an incredibly difficult uphill battle. Let’s talk about economic stability. The thought of losing our hospital and the 130-150 jobs it creates is more than disturbing. I’ve spoken to city officials in Ft. Scott, Kansas where they lost their hospital in just the last year. They essentially said “fight hard for your local hospital, when it’s gone your community changes forever, and not for the better.” Businesses have closed and good quality residents are moving away from Ft. Scott because of this new lack of healthcare service. We don’t want the same devastating tragedy in Cedar County.

I recently read an old article that spoke of how my great-grandfather, Walter Tough and several other business leaders gained approval of the building proposition in the late 1950s. The article also talked about my great uncle, Marvin Tough, who was on the first hospital board. In 1981 he said, “The hospital has done quite a lot for all of us. The townspeople here used to really pull together for the things they wanted.” I believe this is one of those times in which we need to pull together for our community and for Cedar County.

So many communities have no hospital and residents have to drive 30 minutes to an hour just to receive basic care. The clock is ticking. Could El Dorado Springs be the next to lose critical local healthcare? We are extremely lucky to have a hospital in Cedar County and should do everything in our power to retain quality healthcare in our community and in the area.

Please VOTE YES to insure our accessible healthcare continues!

W. Jackson Tough