Mayo Board of Trustees,

As you probably have heard by now, we have ice cream in Albert Lea. Therefore, we do not need to drive 23 miles for a dish or a cone. Also, we have no need to take that same drive for surgery. I just had a successful surgery at the Albert Lea hospital, where I was treated very well by everyone I came in contact with. I have nothing but praise for the great teams in the transition room, where I spent the night because of my problem with anesthesia. Upon checking in before my surgery, I received a folder with pockets on the inside for any important papers I needed for my after-surgery care. Clearly in the upper lefthand corner was the Mayo Clinic logo. Along the lower edge is a statement, and I quote, “The needs of the patient come first.” I have to wonder when this statement was no longer the by-word of Mayo, of the once respected medical clinic? Just when did patients become the bottom line on the financial statement of Mayo?

From the time when Doctor Naeve opened his hospital in an old house, we have had that medical care here in Albert Lea, where people came from the surrounding homes for treatment without traveling to another town. We need a local hospital for our babies to be born in and a place for surgery — where we do not have to leave home at the early hours to meet Mayo’s schedules. A place where loved ones do not have to find overnight lodging, while waiting for their results of their loved ones surgery or to drive miles home only to drive the return trip the next day. If Mayo’s statement is true, “the needs of the patient come first,” how about living up to that promise and put the patient first? We need our full-service hospital in our town.

Jim Jirele

Albert Lea