By RICHARD MAKUCH

An advertisement on the back page of an OBSERVER section last month highlighting the “Brooks-TLC Hospital System Inc,” was written by a Chris Lanksi, board chair.

Lanski notes that this information is being provided “in anticipation that it will alleviate questions related to recent publicity the hospital has been getting in the media. Not all the information that has been quoted or speculated is complete or accurate. … Much of the information is an interpretation of the facts or it portrays someone’s opinion rather that the facts. The most recent information has been focused on the new hospital project, our financial status and the site selection process we utilized to identify the location of the new hospital.”

It is obvious that Lanksi did not read the front page of the OBSERVER dated July 2-3, that includes comments from Richard Ketcham — who by the way, did a fantastic job running Brooks Hospital.

Ketcham stated that Brooks can be saved with new changes. Ketcham also explained those changes would cost, but according to the maintenance people at the hospital, approximately $7 million. That’s a lot cheaper than what Lanski and his self-proclaimed experts are willing to pay for a hospital in their town. Yes, their town — Fredonia. Another article in the OBSERVER was from a Fredonia resident who was complaining about the water in Fredonia.

If that’s the case, then how is a hospital in Fredonia going to survive without good water that Fredonia gets from a reservoir, not from Lake Erie? Besides that, traffic in that same area is bad.

I don’t think that these self-proclaimed experts looked around too much for good property. If they had, Route 60 and Williams Street is a lot better than the Fredonia site. My next question is: how did these self-proclaimed experts take charge of my hospital with no Dunkirk residents on the board?

As far as financial problems, who is collecting six-figure numbers for pay? That alone will break any hospital. Lanski’s article was nothing but propaganda — and far too defensive — as far as I am concerned.

Richard Makuch is a Dunkirk resident. Send comments to editorial@observertoday.com