Good health care is an essential ingredient for any city whose leaders are eager to have it continue to grow and be attractive.

There are many vital pieces to the puzzle that makes up a progressive, healthy community. Some of these include good job opportunities for all levels of workers; good public education; good, clean government and law enforcement; good retail facilities; good housing for all income levels; good recreation facilities; an appreciation for the arts; and a citizenry that does not settle for mediocrity.

Good health care is tremendously important, both for current residents, and in attracting new, talented residents who have the choice of living and working in any number of cities.

Lawrence Memorial Hospital has gone through various stages of development since it was established in 1929. The hospital receives no tax support from the city of Lawrence or Douglas County, relying on income from patient services and philanthropic contributions.

The first capital campaign in the hospital’s history was started in the fall of 2005 as part of an overall $49 million hospital expansion and renovation project.

The LMH Endowment Association held its annual meeting this past Wednesday, and association members, hospital board members, staff doctors and nurses and many community volunteers learned that approximately $6.6 million of the $8 million private support goal has been committed. Construction is under way on the hospital project, and officials of the hospital and its endowment association expressed their enthusiasm and optimism about a successful fiscal drive and an on-time completion of the project.

If Lawrence is to continue to grow, both in size and excellence, and is to have any chance of justifying the challenging goal of meriting the title of “America’s Finest University City,” it must have a top-flight hospital.

A superior community hospital has a modern, efficient physical plant to provide excellent and comprehensive care for those living in the Lawrence area. Such a hospital helps attract good doctors, which, in turn, attracts more customers (patients) to the hospital.

This winning combination is the goal of LMH administrators, doctors and staff, LMH Endowment trustees and hundreds of volunteers involved in the capital campaign.

There is no way of applying a fool-proof yardstick to the quality of care over the years at LMH, but there is no question that today’s patients are receiving the best care by the best-trained doctors in the hospital’s history.

And it will get even better when the current hospital expansion and renovation project is complete. The capital drive merits the financial support and generosity of area residents. One more factor that local residents should remember is that it is likely the quality of care available at LMH probably will affect the lives of a high percentage of area residents.

Last year, for example, the hospital recorded more than 225,000 in-patient and out-patient visits. Whenever anyone needs to “go to the hospital,” they always hope they will receive excellent care. Successfully completing the current campaign is important because the new hospital it will fund will provide an even higher level of patient care and attention to the Lawrence community.