A newspaper and hospital are cornerstones in any community. I’m outraged to learn that one isn’t speaking to the other – in the midst of a crippling pandemic, no less.

In a Jan. 14, front-page story, The Durango Herald reported that Mercy Hospital and parent company Centura Health are refusing to comment to the newspaper – an inexplicable silence that’s gone on for months since the Herald divulged Mercy CEO Patrick Sharp quarantined after a COVID-19 exposure. This isn’t some athlete deciding to brush off reporters in the locker room. This is critical time for health care executives to speak up – and grow up.

Curt Brown

Bayfield