Keep the Hansen Family Hospital Labor and Delivery Wing

According to Google Maps, there is not a single labor and delivery or birth center within 48 minutes of Hansen Family Hospital in Iowa Falls, IA. If we close our labor and delivery center, this could mean putting the lives of many women and babies at risk. We live in Iowa where the weather is often less than ideal. We have snow. We have storms. We have flooding. Any one of these events could prevent a laboring mother from reaching one of the other, further away, medical centers in her time of need. Not to mention the people who may not have a reliable enough vehicle to get there or can't afford the gas, even when the weather is fine. (Yes, some people can't - that's life.) Sure, there are many "general" medical practitioners in emergency rooms who could likely deliver a baby, but we need specialists available for those circumstances which are not..."general". I think we are really underestimating the ability and willingness of other obstetrical practitioners in our area who are willing and able to deliver babies at Hansen. Dr. O'Laughlin has provided great service to the Iowa Falls area, but I think it's time to allow other doctors to step up and fill the void that he has left. Maybe it doesn't seem economically feasible to keep the L & D wing open. But if we are only thinking about the profit the hospital can make and not the people it benefits, maybe we shouldn't have a hospital at all.