From the published report, the recently announced decision by the Mahoning Township Planning Commission to deny the Lehigh Valley Health Network’s conditional use application for its proposed hospital is not in the public interest and seems to be based on personal opinions rather than professional assessment of the public need for better health care in Carbon County.

As one of the “30% of Carbon residents (who) leave the county for health care,” I was thrilled to hear that this top quality health care system was coming here. Also, a good number of LVHN’s current staff live in our area and would be happy to transfer and staff the proposed facility.

As far as concerns about “increased traffic,” the proposed LVHN hospital would have better access than the proposed Franklin Township Facility even though Route 443 should have been upgraded years ago as promised. Since the proposed hospital site in Mahoning is in an area zoned “for commercial use and tailored toward retail spaces,” bear in mind that a busy hospital will attract businesses much faster than the present cornfields.

David thor Straten-Mohr

Franklin Township