Albert Lea needs a full-service hospital. I think everyone in Albert Lea and the surrounding communities could find at least one reason why having a full-service hospital is important to them. I have a few very personal reasons why I believe we need the hospital to stay, and of course some reasons I believe our community needs a hospital.

In about 10 months, I will be graduating from nursing school with an associate’s degree in professional nursing. After that, I intend to get my bachelor’s degree, and from there, I would like to continue on to graduate school. Here’s my problem — I have a dream of becoming a nurse anesthetist. Most graduate programs require at least one year of ICU/critical care nursing experience in order to get into their nurse anesthetist programs. Without an ICU in Albert Lea, I can’t get that experience. Yes, I could get a job in an ICU in some other town, but I would love to serve the people of my community while working as a nurse.

My second personal concern is that I’m a young woman. Actually, I’m a young woman who dreams of having children some day. I haven’t a clue where my future is going to lead me, but if I’m still in Albert Lea by the time I start having children, I sure hope there is a labor and delivery unit available, as I wish for every mother and future mother in our community.

I have concerns for our community as a whole regarding the loss of our full service hospital. I currently work as a nursing assistant in geriatric long-term care, right here in Albert Lea. Should one of my elders need hospitalization, I wish for them to be able to stay here in town. The time it would take them to be transported to Austin could be a matter of life or death. The longer transport is a financial burden. The extra travel to family who are involved in their care is a burden. There will be burdens to our community that will effect just about everything — jobs, our economy, our school district, so much more.

I hope and pray that we can either reach some sort of compromise with Mayo, or that Mayo will give the hospital back to Albert Lea so that it can be taken over by another party that will allow us the full service hospital we need and deserve.

Erin Murtaugh

Albert Lea