Letter to Editor:

I was dismayed, but certainly not surprised, by the final (pre-determined) vote of the HPHA board to reduce the hours of St Marys hospital emergency services. (ref. Journal Argus June 9, 2010).
After the sham of the consultation process, it is clear the board members were not listening to the community, but rather to those that pay out their salaries from public funds. I wonder how much they could have saved by just informing the public of the decision based on their Vision (not ours) in the 2013 Plan instead of paying for a series of public meetings that had no basis of integrity.
This lack of integrity does nothing for building public trust. Who hires these people to make decisions for the public? Where is the accountability?  Is it not true that if one is not from the community, one should not make decisions for it! Unanimous indeed!
And there is nothing we can do about it except to protest a “fait accompli.” I think the only way that any HPHA board member can learn a lesson about the communities concerns for the standards of our health care is for one of them or their loved ones to have a stroke or heart attack and spend an unnecessary hour on the road to get help that is too late.
CEO Andrew William’s comment “We know it’s hard, but it’s the right decision for the organization and the communities we serve” is nothing short of patronizing and stupid.  He and the board don’t serve; they command … and no doubt get paid hearty salaries to do so.
I would also like to thank the Mayor, Jamie Hahn, for speaking out – at least he’s from the community so ignored and disregarded by the HPHA. The board should be sued, or better still, fired en mass, for incompetence and false representation to the public.
We the community can only despair the result with no recourse and hope one of us doesn’t die in the back of an ambulance as a result of their board room musings and suppositions.

Raymond Clark
St Marys