Letters to the Editor - January 22, 2026

Sharon is the best place in the world to live

Sharon, Connecticut, is the best place in the world to live.

I’ve lived here for the past five years — originally from New York moved to Millerton in 1997 and found Sharon to be a very beneficial place to live. First of all, the townspeople are amazing. You have many shops and doctors such as Dr. Colite, the dentist.

He is a very caring person and understanding. For instance, I need a great deal of dental work and he offered to give me time payments however it wasn’t necessary I was very impressed because in the city that would never happen.

The hospital is another blessing. I have never had such a wonderful experience at a hospital in my life. I have a family that lives in Florida, my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law came to visit me and fell in love with this town. When they went back to Florida she sold her home and bought a home in Sharon.

However, they moved and about six months later my mother-in-law had a serious problem. She was bleeding internally and was rushed to Sharon Hospital. What they did was a miracle. They called Dr. Cole and his skill stopped the bleeding so fast that she did not need a transfusion.

She needed extra help and is now in Sharon rehab center. We had found the care here is special and we appreciate everything that this town has to offer and I hope that the people of Sharon would feel the way that my family feels about Sharon, Connecticut.

Angelo Prunella

Sharon

Honor Yerkes and keep Salisbury Ambulance

Just before her death in 2019, Franny Yerkes made a generous gift to her beloved Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Service (SVAS), where she served for thirty years as both an EMT and Secretary of the Squad. Her goal was to help ensure the long-term health and viability of SVAS by supporting the substantial costs of training and certification for Squad members and new recruits.

From this gift, the Franny Fund was created. Over the past five years, it has paid for training tuition and related expenses that would otherwise have been borne by individual members. Through additional contributions from Franny’s family and friends, the Fund has grown, and an endowment has now been established to keep the Franny Fund healthy and active in perpetuity.

SVAS is funded entirely by private donations and does not charge for its lifesaving services. If you value this remarkable organization that serves this very special town, please consider joining me in contributing to the SVAS Franny Fund Endowment. Donations may be sent to SVAS, P.O. Box 582, Salisbury.

Our goal is to raise $50,000 for the endowment.

I know Franny would be deeply pleased to see how her Fund continues to support the Squad she loved so much. Thank you.

Lee Hayes

Warren, Rhode Island

A New Chapter for Sharon Hospital: Our Commitment to the Northwest Corner

At Northwell Health, we are incredibly excited and deeply committed to our new hospitals in Connecticut, including the future of Sharon Hospital. We understand that Sharon Hospital is more than just a building; it is a cornerstone of this community, a place of healing, comfort, and trust built over generations.

We hear the concerns about healthcare access in rural areas – the challenges of a “health care desert,” the distances, and the need for reliable, local services. That’s precisely why our commitment to Sharon Hospital includes being a community partner, listening intently to community needs and ensuring you have reliable local care.

That commitment includes the preservation and advancement of vital services, including comprehensive women’s health services. We understand that the availability of obstetrics is profoundly important, and we are committed to maintaining these services at Sharon Hospital. Our goal is to ensure that future generations can continue to be safely born and compassionately cared for right here in Sharon.

As Attorney General William Tong rightly emphasized, “miles and minutes matter when it comes to labor and delivery,” and we believe every family deserves access to safe, local maternity care. At Northwell Health, we don’t believe in a “hub-and-spoke” model of care where patients requiring most specialized services are referred into only the most advanced facilities. We’ve always believed in care being provided as locally as possible, so long as local expertise can provide such care safely. We believe that obstetrical care at Sharon is evidence of this commitment.

But our commitment extends far beyond that. We will maintain Sharon Hospital as a full-service community hospital, ensuring 24/7 surgical capabilities and a robust, full-service emergency department. Our plan isn’t just about maintaining; it’s about improving services and enhancing access in the community. Northwell is incredibly committed to ambulatory network development – we are today a network of 28 hospitals and 1,050 ambulatory practices. While enhancing care for the community will always be viewed through the lens of capabilities at Sharon Hospital, ensuring the right care is being provided in the right setting is also a part of our commitment. At Northwell, nearly 80 percent of our patient encounters take place outside of a hospital, with a focus on providing services in the most efficient and patient-centric environment possible.

This acquisition is backed by significant investment. Northwell has committed to injecting at least $1 billion across Nuvance hospitals in Connecticut and New York over the next five years, a process that we’ve already begun, ensuring capital, expertise, and support for long-term fiscal stability and critical growth investments at places like Sharon. We’re also integrating advanced systems, like a unified electronic records management system, to enhance care coordination.

Our partnership with the Connecticut and New York Attorneys General, as well as the Connecticut Office of Health Strategy, reflects our shared goal: to safeguard the interests of Connecticut patients and providers, ensuring accessible, quality healthcare for this community for years to come.

Northwell Health is honored to become an even greater part of this community, and we are grateful for the community’s engagement and partnership. We are confident that, together, we will not only secure Sharon Hospital’s future but elevate its capacity to serve, providing the essential, high-quality care this vibrant community deserves.

John D’Angelo, MD, Northwell Health President and CEO

Kevin Beiner, Northwell Health Chief Operating Officer

Sharon

One year into Donald Trump’s second term

One year into the Trump administration and we’ve seen the majority of the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol invaders pardoned.

One year into the Trump administration and we’ve seen an increase in worldwide violence directed towards people of color, Hispanics and people of Asian and Jewish descent.

One year into the Trump administration and we’ve listened to threats of changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico, taking over Greenland through whatever means necessary, an invasion of Venezuela and now possible further military actions in Iran.

One year into the Trump administration and we’ve seen I.C.E. troops move into several “sanctuary” cities which either have Democratic Governors or Mayors, or states which voted overwhelmingly Democratic in the last election. We’ve witnessed these I.C.E. soldiers act in alarmingly violent behaviors.

One year into the Trump administration and now we’ve witnessed the blatant killing of Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good. Whatever situation she found herself driving in during an ice storm cost her her life. Mrs. Good could have been any of our daughters, sisters or Mother. Where does an I.C.E. officer get off calling her a “Fuc…in Bitch”? If these officers are sufficiently trained why didn’t they simply shoot out her tires and take her into custody for whatever infraction they perceived? Why are these I.C.E. officers so violent?

What has happened to this country? Could all of these overtly violent behaviors been sanctioned and unleashed by one man?

If so everyone who voted for Donald Trump has the blood of Renee Nicole Good on their hands.

Jim Wexler

Sharon