Trust? Trust is a core trait of any good long lasting relationship; it is earned and has to be proven over time. Every relationship of any value is based on being able to trust everyone in the relationship.

How many times have you been told “You can trust me,” only to find out you couldn’t trust the person or people making that statement to you?  Some of us by nature are too trusting — that’s why there are scammers out there trying to deceive us into giving them our hard earned money. Those scammers are not always the people on the other end of an unwanted phone call.

Sometimes they are people we know, from relatives, neighbors, business associates, elected and hired officials, to medical organizations we trust with our lives. I would like to believe most of these people are good people at heart, but I can tell you from experience that when you throw money into the relationship it changes some people.

People you thought you could trust, who sometimes come to you for financial help and you believed had only your best interests at heart, become people you no longer know once they have your money.

There have been letters to the editor about feelings of anger, frustration, disappointment and betrayal from people who have lent their name and effort years ago to raising community money for a new hospital. Mayo claimed it was going to make our city a better place. 

Yet, today, Mayo has deserted us after $500 million of our tax dollars was committed to creating Destination Medical Center in Rochester. Little did we know that commitment of all of our tax dollars was going to change our healthcare future here in Albert Lea so drastically! 

You have to also understand how this decision will affect our economic development future here in Albert Lea. We are already struggling to get business to locate here in an effort to expand our tax base. This decision by Mayo certainly does not help.

We here in Albert Lea cannot compete with the deep pockets of the Hormel Foundation, but we also should be concerned with who is on their board of directors. Plus, all of these activities only reinforce how we have to prioritize our spending!

I believe the physicians and nurses of our hospital and clinic here in Albert Lea are truly caring and dedicated professionals with the same compassion and commitment to health care that the founding Mayo brothers and nuns of the time had in mind. They understood that in order to have a thriving community it had to be healthy. 

We can promote healthy principals in many different forms, but it becomes a personal choice to follow them and when we need a wake-up call from a medical emergency we need a convenient and affordable location to be treated.

Contact your elected officials from the city level up to the governor and tell them how their decisions are affecting your finances and health care options.

Gary Hagen

Albert Lea