To the editor:

Recently the Whidbey Island chapter of AAUW (American Association of University Women) was privileged to hear Trish Rose speak about the upcoming hospital bond issue. Trish is a straight-talking woman who has all her ducks in a row when it comes to presenting the facts supporting the need for passage of this bond.

Whidbey General Hospital is in dire need of an updated inpatient wing to serve those of us who live on the island. The existing wing was constructed in the 1960s and does not have the infrastructure to support 21st century electronic and digital systems and equipment. It is not built to support overhead ceiling lifts, necessary in this day and age to assist nurses in lifting today’s patients, who are significantly larger than patients in the 1960s.

Research has shown that patients cared for in private rooms have a significantly better recovery experience and much greater privacy during their treatment, recovery, or in some cases, their passing. Most of WGH’s rooms are double occupancy.

The biggest eye-opener for me was the fact that citizens served by Skagit Valley Hospital pay $81.43 per $100,000 assessed home value to support it; people supporting Island Hospital in Anacortes pay $55.79 per $100,000; folks served by Whidbey General Hospital pay only $19.82 per $100,000! And $12.08 of this will expire soon. That is unconscionable!

There is a very good chance that each of us, or someone we care about, will need the services at Whidbey General someday; it would behoove us all to support the updating of our local medical facility.

Meg Eisenbraun
Oak Harbor