What is more important?

There are some institutions in any community that are arguably so vital to its general health that keeping them going is of utmost importance to its ability to endure. Certainly decent schools are among them, especially if regional leaders would like to attract an engaged new population to keep their area vibrant. Good local government, making for well-run municipalities, is also essential. Doesn’t hurt to have some area media to let residents know what is going on, in the opinion of this newspaper, but it could be it’s not easy for us to be objective in this matter.What, however, could be more important than readily available and high-quality health care? The role of Sharon Hospital as a center for medical care in the Tri-state region cannot be exaggerated. Without a regional health center, it would be a challenge for many of the employers who operate here, including the private schools that draw so many to the region annually, to continue. No matter their age group, residents gather at the hospital when life-changing events occur: birth, illness, injuries or death. As state Rep. Roberta Willis (D-64) noted in an interview with this newspaper last week, the connection to Sharon Hospital for many in the region is very personal. For her, her mother and all her own children were born at Sharon Hospital, giving her the perspective to understand how important it was for the hospital to remain in operation when it went through the conversion process from nonprofit to for-profit in 2002. Willis has been on the Sharon Hospital Advisory Board since that time, and knows the hospital’s strengths and challenges very well. Her assessment is truly troubling, coupled with that of the administration there, that if the state budget proposal to pull funding away from hospitals goes forward, the hospital will face monumental cuts. The governor’s proposal is putting all state hospitals on the defensive, but other hospitals may have more fat to cut before they get to the bone, to quote a phrase used by Sharon Hospital’s CEO Kimberly Lumia at a recent press conference. She believes these funding cuts will take Sharon Hospital to the point of having to cut to the bone, that is, cut programs that are essential to the care of area residents. The hospital has already had 26 layoffs and a wage freeze over the past year. The administration and ownership of the hospital have, however, at the same time invested in departments they deemed important to the area, such as a renovated birthing center and a wound center.It is to be hoped that the governor and the Legislature understand the gravity of the challenges facing state hospitals, especially Sharon, and reconsider the funding cuts. While it will mean the money will have to be found elsewhere in the budget, there must be ways to ensure that access to health care is kept available in the state of Connecticut and in the Tri-state region that Sharon Hospital serves.