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Submitter responds to hospital criticism

Dear Editor:

I am writing in response to the last three letters concerning Rimbey’s health care and doctors.

Firstly, I am concerned about why the editorial staff of the Rimbey Review thought it was beneficial for our community to read not one, not two, but three negative letters that were hurtful to the doctors and other health care workers of our community. Is it necessary to perpetuate and encourage such negativity?

This is a time when all levels of health care workers are working extra hard for the taxpayers, and I wonder why it was so important to print three articles to bring morale down a little bit more each week.

It is your duty as an editor to decide what gets printed in the paper, and I would urge you to use more compassion and caring when you are choosing what and when material goes into the paper. How does this inform the public? Is this a reflection of a larger population’s views? Is this a real problem in the community?

I was sorry to hear that some writers had had negative experiences. However, these four points played over and over in my mind:

1. Every person who works in health care is a person. Just like you and me, they are not perfect. I know that not everything is ideal in the Rimbey Hospital, but there are so many factors that affect its operation (lack of staff, H1N1 etc.), and we should be proud that our small community has such a wonderful hospital.

2. People who work in health care are in it because they care about people. They want to make our lives better, and they do care about us.

3. If you have a problem, come with a solution. Is the letter to the editor the best avenue for you to deal with the problem? Were there other ways you could have dealt with your problem so that others could benefit? What about a note to our MLA about the state of funding for our health care system?

4. I am thankful to every level of health care worker in our town: from the people who keep the hospital clean and safe, the men and women who spend their days and nights working so that you and I are cared for, to the pharmacists in the town who use their expertise to improve our health.

5. Because health care workers can never comment on the complaints due to confidentiality, the public will never hear the other side of the story.

We have a choice as to how we view and interpret situations and people. We can look for the negative or we can look for the positive.

Kathleen Hull-Beagle