It seems obvious that the space in east Iola around the new medical building is the logical location for the new hospital, that is unless there is something concerning this location of which the public is not being made aware.
No other place around Iola is more accessible from both major highways and this comes without any additional street or highway ramp construction. All utilities are available nearby thus eliminating the need for the installation of long water, sewer, power and communication lines. Friends and relatives visiting patients in the hospital would be close to motels, restaurants, a convenience store and an automobile service station.
The question seems to be, “Do other locations being considered come with this many advantages?”
A location north and east of town has been mentioned. This may well be the worst location of any. It could, at sometime in the future, have an effect on one of the oldest, most successful and valuable industries in this part of the state, the Strickler Dairy. Even though the dairy is operated on the very highest possible standards there is an inherent and unavoidable aroma that goes with the industry which would not be conducive to a hospital’s atmosphere. To do anything that, at sometime in the future, might create any problems whatsoever for Strickler’s is totally unacceptable, especially since there are no apparent real advantages to selecting this location.
As for the quarter-cent sales tax, probably few people would have noticed it had it not been for the necessary publicity that it has been given. It sounds like quite a bargain for those of us who may have had to make daily trips to Wichita or Kansas City due to insufficient equipment in Iola. When a sufficient amount of modern equipment is available, new doctors will be here to take advantage of it.
There will always be plenty of sick or injured people to keep them busy. The new hospital will not cause instant growth in Allen County but it is a building block that, without which, the community isn’t going any place but downhill. Please vote “YES” for the quarter-cent tax!
Gene Burrows,
La Harpe, Kan.
