April 7, 2022 - Ten years ago, a dog bit off the end of my left index finger. It was a Saturday night. I wrapped up my hand and leftover piece in a cold pack and drove myself to JFC hospital. I couldn’t have driven any further. A doctor who happened to specialize in such things was on loan from a San Francisco hospital that night. I had to wait and I got sick to my stomach looking at my poor finger. But in my experience with family members and other emergencies, even in the big cities, this isn’t uncommon. In any case, I had an expert work on me that night, one that I would have never been to able to get to under those circumstances. My finger was repaired and I returned to play in the Mariposa symphony orchestra soon thereafter. 

Over the years, I’ve had family members and visitors to the area use our local hospital and the emergency services it provides. My father had to spend a few nights there when my folks were visiting. And even though it is doubtful that Dad’s problem was life threatening, the care he received was top notch. He had nothing but good things to say about it. I used to sponsor astronomy events in the area and would host 25 to 30 tourists on new moon weekends. I do recall a few times when someone would end up visiting our hospital for sprains or broken bones, injuries sustained while adventuring in the area.

When I decided to buy property in Mariposa thirty years ago, I made sure that if I were to retire here, there would be a hospital I could rely on in my elderly years. Well here I am in that golden time where everything seems to go wrong and we are on the verge of losing our hospital. The upcoming ballot measure will raise our sales tax a tiny bit to raise money for this endeavor. Think about how much tax that will be YOU will have to pay. Food from the grocery store isn’t taxed. Most of us spend most of our money in Madera or Merced counties. We make the occasional trip to the hardware store or eat out. But other than that, where do you REALLY pay sales tax? Much or most of our local sales tax is paid by tourists.

Our local hospital is owned by all of us. I’ve heard people say that we should leave this up to private business to handle. Well, private business won’t. They can’t make enough money here to pay big salaries to executives and provide a return to their investors. We won’t be paying for those things either.

If we don’t have a hospital, many local people will needlessly suffer or die from lack of timely medical services. Property values will suffer. Yes they will. And unless you absolutely KNOW that you’ll never move, you should be very concerned. 

Please vote for our hospital in the upcoming election.

Michelle Stone
Mariposa, CA