I read with interest the full-page statement from Brooks TLC regarding the status of the new hospital that appeared in the weekend edition of the OBSERVER. Its basic message seemed to be not to worry because Brooks-TLC had been able to secure an extension of the purchase and sale agreement for the Fredonia property allowing Brooks-TLC to continue working with the New York State Department of Health who they state is supportive of their plans.

While I appreciate this attempt by Board Chair Chris Lanski to update the community on the new hospital, I quickly noticed that once again he fell back on the COVID-19 pandemic as an excuse for the slow progress on the hospital. Lanski asked us to “Please recognize that over two years of COVID-19 activities has prevented the project from moving forward as the focus of the hospital and DOH was on disaster preparedness and responsiveness- rightly so.”

Former Brooks CEO Richard Ketcham, who left Brooks in 2009 to lead a Hospital in Utica, was deeply involved in the process of constructing a new hospital in that city. Now retired, he stated that contrary to the claims by Brooks about the pandemic and non-release of state funds being the reason for the delays, construction of the new hospital in Utica went on during the pandemic with officials there stating that they had no problems with the flow of state money.

Ketcham speculates the state Department of Health may want a business plan from Brooks-TLC which would ensure that the new hospital would not continue the record of $5 million to $10 million yearly loses accrued by the present hospital. If this is what the state is looking for. that is only a sound business practice. As I taxpayer, I fully support that.

The problem is that Brooks-TLC’s record of communicating with the community that it serves has not been a good one, the recent full-page statement notwithstanding. There have been long periods without updates of any kind regarding the status of the new hospital. In addition, the handling of the closing of Lakeshore Hospital was amateurish at best leaving employees and the citizens of Silver Creek, Irving and the town of Hanover feeling abandoned

Further, I found the Brooks rally, that I attended, in early June a continuation of the lack of openness by Brooks. Most attendees were Brooks employees and families and residents of Dunkirk. It didn’t appear that a lot of effort had been made to attract elected leaders and citizens from other communities in the north county. At the beginning, attendees were cautioned to be civil and there was no time set aside for questions. It was less a rally than a show which saddened me because it would have been an opportunity for Brooks to honestly connect with the community by fully stating the issues at hand in this situation. Brooks-TLC wants our support while keeping the public at arm’s length.

Brooks-TLC must make a major effort to keep the public informed of progress on the new hospital. They must also recognize that a large segment of the public, for a variety of reasons, are not informed nor knowledgeable on the new hospital but as potential future customers, means must be found to reach out to them. In the same way that the current hospital has been an important part of the Dunkirk community for many years, it must now become a part of the entire north county community.

Thomas Kirkpatrick Sr. is a Silver Creek resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com