Save our hospital
I want to give heartfelt thanks to Mimi Hall and all the other individuals and organizations that are working to save our Watsonville Community Hospital by converting it to a District hospital. Bravo. That would be the next best thing to reviving the Foundation that owned our hospital for the first 100 years of its existence—a not-for-profit ownership that existed for no other purpose than to provide medical care for the people of the Pajaro Valley.
The current corporate owner has thrown a hardball by pushing the deadline for a purchase to early next year. This will be a hard deadline to meet. Raising the money to purchase the hospital is a huge challenge. I have a suggestion.
Why not initiate a “Save Our Hospital” campaign that everyone in the community can contribute to? We have a wide range of income and wealth within this city and surrounding area, so contributions might range from quite small to fairly substantial. But in the aggregate, a “Save Our Hospital” campaign would not only raise funds but also bring us together in defense of an essential resource for the health and well-being of us all.
Amy Newell, Watsonville
Rail service is proven option
The letter from a citizen on Nov. 24 bemoaning the light passenger rail and promoting the paving of the rail corridor is a wrong-headed approach to transit options. What we dont want is more pavement. The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission has determined through extensive studies that a trail with rail service is the most efficient option for moving workers, shoppers and visitors. The bus on shoulder expansion will be expensive, unsightly and underutilized, yet it is going to happen. Too bad more Measure D funds were not allocated to implementing the trolley along the rail line, as we saw this October. To make an impact we need the rail, with a trail, bus connections and rideshare. Not another street down the rail corridor.
Frank Rimicci, Jr., Santa Cruz County
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