Keep Lakewood Moving Forward

Lakewood Hospital has now been closed as an inpatient facility since the end of January. Employees have been successfully relocated. Business in Lakewood is thriving. Our housing market is experiencing a boom. People want to live here. The doom and gloom predicted by the Save Lakewood Hospital group is simply not coming to fruition.

The upcoming referendum is based upon wishful thinking. SLH is waiting for an offer from a system, yet to be determined after what amounts to years of discussion, to restore Lakewood Hospital to an inpatient facility. In the last several months, every health system in our area has announced that they are moving to this outpatient model for healthcare delivery. How fortunate are we in Lakewood to have been ahead of the curve with the Cleveland Clinic choosing us to be an example to communities all around the region?

We need to keep Lakewood moving forward. This is an opportunity not granted to communities around the country when their hospital closed. I urge Lakewood voters to vote FOR upholding Lakewood City Council’s vote and to proceed with ensuring the future of healthcare in Lakewood.

Vicki Smigelski