I have enjoyed reading so many of the good letters sent in from people in and around our community regarding our hospital situation. So many good points and ideas have been shared, which I believe reflect how most of us that live here feel. I am not sure what else I can add except to say that as a nurse, when I am handed the keys at the beginning of my shift, I am responsible to carry through with continuity of care to those entrusted to me. When Mayo bought our hospital, they were “handed the keys” so to speak, but in my opinion they are failing to follow through with what was started.

We started with a full-service hospital, and anything less than this is not acceptable. If they can’t follow through with this, they need to step down and give the keys to someone who will. They came into our town under the guise of taking care of all of our local healthcare needs and are bordering on abandonment if they can’t follow through with what they originally appeared to have promised the people in our community when they took over. If they thought they were going to be dealing with a bunch of small Midwestern town hicks, they were sadly mistaken because we are not going down without fighting for what we believe in and for what we deserve.

This is about our health care and, also, about the health of every business and quality of life for every person in this community. Not having a full-service hospital will affect us all in one way or another. My word to Mayo would be: “Give back the keys if you can’t follow through with the original assignment.”

Jody Johnson

Albert Lea