To the editor:

As a former public health nurse, I was thrilled to see the recent full-page announcement of all that LMH is doing across Lawrence to address the holistic health of all ages.

Yet, as the wife of a seriously disabled senior, I was also distressed that one vital resource, currently owned and operated by LMH and available since 1996, did not even make the list. In fact, current plans are to eliminate the therapeutic pool in the OrthoKansas building, across from Criticare. While participants regularly using this facility are in discussion with LMH about reversing the decision, I am convinced that community awareness of the need will draw even more interest and participation in the discussion.

The pool isn’t only for the 70 chronically ill and aged who meet for regularly scheduled classes three times weekly. It also serves younger patients with acute injuries whose healing may be enhanced by the extra warm waters.

Unlike any other pools in the city with room to accommodate this many, the facility’s unique warmer water temperatures of at least 90 degrees are basic for aquatic therapy, according to physical therapists at Mayo Clinic. That makes them more than a luxury. Such warmth is essential for adequate stretching with users like my husband and a 98-year-old lady among their longtime classmates. In a city with a growing number of retirees, I cringe to think what the impact on health outcomes of this group and others for generations to come will be without it.

Dee Ann Miller,

Lawrence