Unit needed

To the editor:

Closing the mental health unit at Lawrence Memorial Hospital is a big mistake. Mental illness is just that, an illness, often a chronic condition, which sometimes requires dozens of hospital stays. Some of those stays may be brief, others much lengthier. But, in any of these stays, knowing that Lawrence offers a safe, well-staffed mental health facility is a relief to the patient and the patient’s family.

In a city the size of Lawrence, it makes no sense to not have an in-patient facility. Often, patients that would utilize the mental health unit do not carry health insurance. Therefore, any choices in care are left up to those with little personal interest in them (hospital, law enforcement). The patient with insurance carries more clout than the patient without. If Lawrence Memorial can attract the best and brightest to help those on the new oncology unit or dialysis unit, surely they can do the same for the mental health unit.

Rose Foster,

Lawrence