Residents here have a right to be upset and skeptical of what is happening with the Brooks-TLC Hospital System, especially considering its poor record over the last 12 years. But both Mary LaRowe, president and chief executive officer, and Christopher Lanski, current board chairman, are correct. Rural hospitals are closing at an alarming pace.

With Brooks-TLC, the organization is still hoping for a new $67 million state-of-the-art facility to be built in Fredonia at the former Cornell Cooperative Extension site off Route 20. That means the current location in Dunkirk would no longer be needed.

That is a casualty that is similar to the current Lakeshore Hospital site that has been shutdown and emptied.

What’s necessary for Brooks-TLC, however, is community support. It is not out of the question that we could lose another health-care facility in Dunkirk-Fredonia.

Last week, Fredonia Trustee Kara Christina said the Village Board needs to express its backing for the project. “I would like to say I support having a hospital in the community, from one village trustee,” she said. “I’m wondering if maybe we want to write a formal letter of support from the board and perhaps send that to, I don’t know who. But I feel like we need to be out there in saying we support this because it ultimately is a good thing for the village.”

That would be an excellent start — and something all the other municipal and school boards need to consider doing. Letters can be sent to Brooks Memorial Hospital, 529 Central Ave., Dunkirk, NY 14048. The comments can then be passed on to the state Health Department.

Health care here is in crisis. One location has already closed. Another one shutting down would be a disaster.