Dear Editor:

Alan Crowell should be ashamed to have written such a bunch of misleading information.

He tries to make the closing of St. Andrews seem so positive, when in reality it leaves those in need of hospital care in the Boothbay region hanging.

Only 80 percent of people needing emergency care will be served. The other 20 percent? Too bad.

Open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. So before 8 a.m. and after 8 p.m., just don't have a broken something/cut yourself deeply/have a heart palpitation or any other household trauma.

An ambulance will take you “directly to larger, nearby emergency departments.” How direct is the route from Southport? Spruce Point? Linekin Neck? The ambulance leaves from Boothbay Harbor and drives to the emergency; then it has to backtrack to Damariscotta! That's direct?

Check the mileage, consider the road conditions, winter snow, summer rain and fog. And you say you're conjuring up a series of changes designed to "make healthcare less expensive, more convenient and focused on prevention." What rubbish.

Hardly more convenient, maybe less expensive, considering the reduction of care for the Boothbay region and a focus on prevention? That sound nice, but how do you do it? Get real you guys. You're dealing with people, not dollars and cents.

Tom Evans
Southport