To the editor:

I read in horror about the death of Brianna Mitchell in your Jan. 23 front-page article. How could a city hospital turn away a prospective patient that had a life-threatening disease? Isn’t it a requirement of any emergency room that they treat or admit a patient that has a life-threatening disease at least until they could be transferred?

The hospital closed its in-patient mental health unit in May 2004, according to the article, presumably due to financial considerations. Was that a smart move considering the potential immense negligence suit that I suspect will be brought against the hospital (and rightly so, I might add)?

The city must get its priorities in order. Lawrence is set to expend $545,000 for a roundabout at 19th and Louisiana and $35 million for hospital expansions. Instead, why not spend the money on saving the lives of its citizens.

Gregory Polk,

Lawrence