To the Editor:

To us, this is more than just a hospital because it is part of our community, and it’s where our friends, relatives and neighbors work and so many people’s livelihoods depend on the hospital being here. We need to look out for each other and support each other and support our hospital so that it’s still here down the road when it’s inevitable that each of us will need it.

I’ve only been here for a few years, and already this is the hospital that I’ve chosen to have my baby in, and where my two nieces have been born, where my nephew has had surgery, and my baby niece was hospitalized. It is where I chose to bring my brother when he was critically ill and was hospitalized for over a week, and then came back for two different surgeries. That’s how much I believe in this place.

This isn’t just a hospital, but part of our community. When you come to us, you won’t be treated as just another faceless patient or another number. You will be treated with that extra special touch that only your own community hospital can give you.

None of us know what’s going to happen a year, two years, or five or more years from now. But I do know that if people don’t support the hospital now, what we’re afraid of happening will happen. But it doesn’t have to be like that, because there’s a great hospital right here in our community that wants to take care of its people and will provide the best care possible, just like a family provides for its own. We just need to stick together and support each other.

This hospital is an important part of the community and the local economy. If we don’t support it, it will hurt the entire community. It is unfortunate that we’re losing some great doctors, but at the same time physicians, nurses, and other staff are staying because we truly want to be here and because we believe in this place and how important it is to have a local hospital. The hard decision is the one to stay here and fight for this place to succeed.

Now, more than ever, we all need to support each other. We believe in our hospital and our community and it is our privilege to take care of you. Thanks for your support.

Casey Prenger, MD

Medical Director

WNC Hospitalist Service

MedWest-Harris