To the editor:

I attended one of the last meetings on the proposed development at Highway 305 and High School Road. The general drift was that 80-100 citizens do not like the idea.

Neither do I.

Did Visconsi do any research on the demographics and planning policies on Bainbridge? This is no California, endlessly expanding with more and more homes, developments and growth. We have a finite water supply, for one.

This island will not grow enough to support another big-box drug store, or other retail spaces, for decades, or possibly never.

What this island does need is a small, central hospital so women can give birth and still be near their husbands, partners, other children and families. And how about a place to take one of our many older adults if they have a heart or stroke emergency.

How do we survive without a local, small-scale hospital? Can’t we fund raise for that? With strict rules about using sirens as ambulances near the hospital, can’t we build one in the woods at Highway 305 and High School Road?

I consider Bainbridge Island paradise. But even my paradise needs a hospital. Why not us? Why not sooner than later? Why not that instead of a retail center we do not need?

KATHLEEN CRONIN

Bainbridge Island