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Open Letter to MVHS's Mr. Robert Scholefield

Joseph P. Bottini, May 9, 2018

Mr. Scholefield, you said, “ . . . with the primary mission of delivering state-of-the-art healthcare to our region . . . .”

If you really want a state-of-the-art hospital – please read the words of Mike Bosak printed in the Preservationist and printed in the Phoenix.

He lists no fewer than 25 reasons for opposition to a downtown hospital. He lists 15 solid reasons for building at the St. Luke’s site. Each is clear, irrefutable and loaded with common sense (common sense from MVHS is in short supply).

Try to address each point with clarity and honesty and prove his opinion wrong. You can’t – and that is why you don’t attempt to step into the real world.

If you did, you would then be moved to save millions of dollars and increase the “state” of the state-of-the-art hospital you talk about wanting for the people.

One could save millions now being allocated for property evaluation, site acquisition, property demolition, site hazardous remediation, infrastructure upgrades and the building of a Power Plant. No salary for a coordinator, attorneys to monitor the coordinator, unnecessary real estate folks- and “reducing the number of kickback possibilities” could save more money.

All those savings could then go directly toward a state-of-the-art-hospital _AND_ building a parking garage AND infrastructure up-grades _AND_ police station addition. A Win – Win – Win – Win situation is staring you in the face. We get a state-of-the-art medical facility at the St. Luke’s site, Utica gets neighborhood infrastructure up-grades, Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium gets a parking garage, and the public safety facility gets an addition.

Get your head turned around in the right direction and LISTEN. Stop with the “phony leaks” and deal with good information.

I have listened to MVHS for two years and all I have received is a whole lot of “used oats.”

I have asked and have not received one good reason for building the hospital downtown; NOT ONE. I would be happy to meet with you and listen. Help me by enlightening my understanding of these big projects, as I am just a simple country boy without a high degree of sophistication.

I know very little about the medical profession and have little experience apart from my U.S.A. Army medical training and a civilian ambulance job experience.

By the way, I had a heart procedure done at St. Elizabeth Medical Center recently. Wonderful people served my medical needs and personal comfort – (nurses, doctors, technicians, receptionist, and a kitchen aide brought breakfast post-op with a smile). Each was friendly, professional, accommodating and made a scary situation less so. It was a lot better than the kidney procedure I had at the Albany Hospital two years ago.

I have an awful gut-feeling that each of those supporting your position has “a dog-in-the-hunt” – but I do not; my dog doesn’t hunt.

Who stands to gain from a downtown hospital? Why are those for the downtown site angry with those for the St. Luke’s site?

Often, when someone is unwilling to discuss an issue, they are hiding something.

I would like to say, “I have seen used oats, I have smelled used oats and I have shoveled used oats, but this is more than I can handle.”

Those against the proposal give reasons for their position, as did Mike Bosak, but those for it just get angry and adamant it is going to be because . . . who knows,? They are not saying.

Perhaps a live public debate between you and me would be fruitful?

Of course, there is always the possibility I am missing something. Please inform me what I am missing.

Joe Bottini, Oneida County Historian

Email: Joseph P. Bottini, Oneida County Historian

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As first printed in the Utica Phoenix

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No Studies, No Reports, thus we remain #NoHospitalDowntown