We need to work together for the greater good

I was stunned when I read in The Gazette that St. Luke's/Physicians' Clinic of Iowa is building a cancer center when Mercy's Cancer Center is already well on the way to completion. Why would a city this size need two cancer centers, especially when we are so close to the huge University of Iowa medical center?

Donald Berwick, former Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator, spoke in Cedar Rapids earlier and said the cooperation between the two hospitals was an example for the nation. Not anymore. It appears the endless ambition that is rampant in this country in politics, on Wall Street and in banks is spreading to medical care. When will we learn to work together for the greater good, not for our own ambition?

Kate Hawkins

Cedar Rapids