Hospital is valuable asset for Sandpoint

I have been a healthcare professional for more than 25 years. I've worked in union and non-union healthcare facilities. I find the Teamsters' entry at Bonner General Hospital very disturbing.

The health care industry has always been under tremendous pressure from outside influences (trial lawyers, tedious government regulations, etc.), yet has managed to provide quality care regardless of one's ability to pay. No other business can make this claim, especially not the union business.

Under a Teamsters contract, everything affecting nursing operations will have to be approved by truck drivers from Detroit. That's not the way I wish to receive my health care! The business community in Sandpoint has even a larger stake in this. Once the Teamsters have a foothold in a community, they don't let go.

Nurses have worked long and hard to achieve professional status in our society, a designation well earned! I urge them to take a long hard look at the Teamsters. Ask them the hard questions and get your answers in writing. Read the fine print. What will the Teamsters really do for you? At what cost? Go to the NLRB Web site or unionfacts.com and learn about the individual flexibility that you, as a professional, will lose by signing a collective bargaining agreement.

I further urge the community and business leaders to recognize the value of having a hospital here in Sandpoint, and to support the effort to keep these services available locally. Think seriously about the consequences of losing them.

JEROME J. FISCHER

Sandpoint