Letter to the Editor-Let’s Meet the Challenge As a Community

As the Board of Directors for your MidMichigan Health Medical Centers in Clare, Gratiot and Isabella counties, it is our duty to make certain you and your families have quality medical care in our communities when you need it. We have cared for you and your families for generations and hope to maintain your trust to do so for generations to come.

We are learning from our administrators, doctors and all clinicians that their ability to safely care for the members of our community – your families, friends, and neighbors – is being threatened by the current conditions in our state. Hospitals throughout the state of Michigan have been experiencing record high volumes of very sick patients, both with and without COVID, including right here in Clare, Gratiot and Isabella counties. We board members of your community medical centers are witnessing what’s happening and feel a profound sense of urgency to ask for your help.

Just like our communities, we too have a diversity of perspectives and opinions about the COVID-19 pandemic. But we all agree that COVID is unpredictably dangerous, and we must stop the spread of COVID-19.

We are a community that cares about each other, and we all must do our part – just like the Greatest Generation all pitched in and sacrificed to win World War II. We recognize that there are diverse opinions on all the ways to be safe – we have them too – but we implore you to recognize the very real risk and act to keep yourself and others safe. We especially encourage vaccination and the non-vaccinated to ask questions of trained health care providers and make a well-informed choice.

Let’s meet this challenge as a community.

Signed: Kelly Bebow, Laura Bever, Nancy Gallagher, Marita Hattem-Schiffman, William Henderson, Thomas House, Thomas Claringbold, M.D.; Francisco Lossio, M.D.; Todd Olivieri, Prakash Sarvepalli, M.D.; Donald Schurr, Jeffrey Smith, M.D.; Erik Spindler, Sara Wassenaar, D.D.S.; James Wheeler and Alan White