A couple of years ago I expressed my concerns when the hospital’s board of directors failed to do their job by allowing then chief executive officer Johnathan Lawrence use up all of the money. Another letter was written when University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Hamot, was brought in to assist the hospital to get back on its feet. This caused even more damage as the Hamot management terminated highly knowledgeable, very competent staff. One can only speculate it was their way of reducing the payroll, as these people were some of the highest paid non-union positions.

The board of directors, with many of the same members, now wants the facility out of Dunkirk. Diane Andrasik is correct when she stated in her letter (Feb. 3), none of the members live in the city of Dunkirk. Though current board chair Chris Lanski was born and raised in Dunkirk, he lives in Fredonia. He must have forgotten where his roots came from.

Some have never lived in this community until their jobs brought them here. They have no dedication to the Dunkirk community. Was it a futile task for our Dunkirk mayor to have his staff search for places within our city to build a new hospital? I believe Dunkirk submitted four locations. Really, none of these were acceptable? Was the board of trustees never going to approve a Dunkirk site despite how well the location was?

My last question, what sense does it make to have an Urgent Care Center at one corner of Route 60 and one block heading south have a hospital? I know the difference between the two. I know the urgent care center will not operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I also know that with the two facilities — so close and both open at the same time — most are heading to the hospital emergency department. New York state law prohibits the emergency department from refusing to treat anyone. Moving the hospital is not going to keep your non-emergent patients out of the emergency department.

Residents, contact your legislators if you want to do something to try to change what is occurring. Obviously the hospital board does not care about the end users. Obviously we were lied to when we were told the grant money to build the hospital had to be used by a certain date. That date came and went and they are still moving full speed ahead.

Susan Lis is a Dunkirk resident.