Health care plays a vital role in any community, but perhaps an even more important one in places like Borderland, where options are limited.
We are pleased that officials with Rainy Lake Medical Center hospital campus and Essentia Health will meet with the community Monday to answer questions about the status of the hospital and the health care it offers.
Before anyone reaches any conclusions about the hospital or makes any decisions about their health care, we urge them to listen to a presentation scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at the International Falls City Council chambers in the Falls Municipal Building.
Credit should be given to the council for reaching out to hospital officials when they began receiving calls and hearing rumors from area residents about the hospital. Mayor Tim “Chopper” McBride has said that area residents, and the council, simply want clear information about the hospital and its direction.
City residents have a lot at stake in the hospital’s future. As noted by city Administrator Rod Otterness, the council recently earmarked $225,000 toward infrastructure improvements at the planned new location of the hospital along Keenan Drive. The city has also pledged wetland credits and other assistance valued at about $45,000 to the hospital’s planned relocation, he said.
Let’s give hospital officials the opportunity to explain what’s going on with the hospital’s integration with Essentia Health before jumping to any conclusions.
