I was blessed to relocate to La Plata County in 1980 and have now lived here for over half my life. As a Community Bank CEO, I was asked to participate in many endeavors, but I kept my focus on truly important projects such as president of the Durango Industrial Development Foundation, and member of the founding board of Mercy Medical Foundation, among many others.

After retiring from banking, I continued my community involvement. Around 2002, I was recruited to serve as chairman of the Capital Campaign for Mercy. The campaign was successful by raising almost $12 million. That exercise allowed the hospital to acquire state-of-the-art medical equipment that catapulted Mercy Regional Medical Center to prominence in our region.

Now, I have watched as that special place has changed direction and lost many superb doctors and trained medical personnel. This evolvement started a few years ago and continues to this day. The loss of so many years of experience is a serious concern to me as a community member and potential patient.

When is the management of Mercy going to recognize the constant loss of staff members to be a huge negative to the remaining staff and community members? Efforts on my part to reach out to management have proved fruitless. I am seriously concerned that what was a cornerstone of this region will be relegated to an obscure corner of our economic engine. I would appreciate a direct conversation with at least one serious decision maker about the direction of Mercy.

Stephens Parker

Durango