1. A GreatHospital Close to Home
The headline in the April 29th issue of the Hermann Advertiser Courier
spoke volumes to me “HADH musthave more tax revenue to continue!” I
recently had an unexpected ambulance tripto an emergency room and this
time I decided to go to Jefferson City at Capitol Regional Hospital since
that is where my doctor is based. However, I am sorry to say that was not
the best decision as it was in the past. This brought to mind a Letter to the
Editor I wrote about 7 years ago; “A good hospital close to home”
regarding my experience with HADH in the ER including being a patient
there for a couple of days. At that time I wasn’t aware of all the services
they were offering. I was not just examined and sent home with
instructions to see my doctor ASAPand have tests run as an outpatient
later. I was stabilized, the necessary tests were performed there, and then I
was moved to a hospital room to awaitthe results during which I received
treatmentfor any discomfortand was closely monitored. I even
mentioned to the medical staff that my mindsetwith HADH had been they
were more like a triage facility until the patient can be transported to a
bigger hospital, sortof like a fast fix until you could see your doctor or go
to a better equipped hospital. Thathad been my only experience years ago
when my son suffered traumaticinjuries from an automobile accident. He
was taken to HADH and then air lifted to Columbia. I apologized ifthat
sounded like an insulting remark which wasn’tmy intent. I rememberthe
look of pride and big smiles when they responded with “Yes, HADH is
changing and we’re working hard to get rid of that old image.” They even
thanked me for noticing the difference. Seven years later it is very clear
that they have made even more changes and we as a community need to
support that. No one ever wants to see an increase in our taxes if that
becomes necessary but we can’t have it both ways: if we don’t want
governmentinvolvementwith our private enterprises and our private
lives, they should not be the first ones we call to “bail” us out or blame
them when some health care procedures are no longer covered. Do we
really wantto see the doors close at this greathospital so close to home?

2. Don’t we all have a responsibility to do what’s righttoday and for our
future generations? Hermann is a growing community and we need to
support facilities like HADH and not expect a free ride for our care. Out of
state prospects seeking to expand or relocate their operations in Missouri
view the community profile very closely which includes such topics as
available doctors, hospitals, schools, places of worship, available work
force, transportation, etc; within a community. Yes, having available sites
and buildings are importanttoo which meet the prospect’s criteria but
what’s available within thatcommunity counts too, particularly having a
greatquality of life and Hermann certainlyhas that!
I now have my annual tests performed at HADH vs driving toJefferson
City or Washington; how greatis that! I hope the good citizens of
Hermann and Gasconade county as a whole will follow my lead and
recognize how hard HADH has been working to become the best hospital
it can possibly be in a small rural Missouri town and what that means to all
of us.
Donna Lucas
Bay