To the Editor:

I now understand why the people of Panola County do not support our local hospital. Sunday, March 9, I woke up with pain in my abdomen.

Thinking that I had simply slept wrong, I got up and got ready for church. I attended our service and came home. The pain increased as the day did. I have been to the Emergency Room two times that I can remember in my adult  life, other than for childbirth.

Once was three years ago when I was admitted to the hospital (Oxford) with a severe case of kidney stones that had turned septic.

The second time was Sunday. When I arrived at the Tri-Lakes ER there were two other people waiting. I sat for 30 minutes before being seen by a nurse, and then another hour before my husband got fed up and we left for the Oxford ER where I was seen in less than 10 minutes by a nurse and within 30 minutes by a doctor.

The Oxford ER or hospital had approximately 30 people waiting when I arrived. Why do we even have an ER or hospital for that matter when it is so difficult to get treatment? I have insurance. It seems to me that this is precisely why Tri-Lakes is in such financial difficulty. Maybe we should just shut it down; the ER will send anything more than a cold to Oxford or Memphis anyway, IF they get seen before they die.

Kathryn Farrish