A St. Luke’s/Mercy merger would be better

Timothy Charles, the Sisters of Mercy and the board of Mercy Medical Center deserve nothing but total distain and disgust. The proposed $10 million cancer center is one more arrogant example of these entities wasting money, raising medical costs, and blatantly thumbing their noses at medical patients whose costs go up as Mercy Medical's irrational competition increases.

If Mercy and St. Luke's merged, the tens of millions of dollars spent in duplication, parallel equipment purchases and advertisement would more than pay for a quality cancer center. Further, a merger would create one very good medical center instead of two mediocre hospitals. The silly internecine war between the hospitals over heart care ran costs into the tens of millions. Now Mercy wants to spend another $10 million to compete with St. Luke's.

Mayo Clinics and Hospitals are among the best in the world. People wonder why Cedar Rapidians drive those distances for superior medical care. Note that Methodist, St. Mary's, and Mayo clinics are merged.

Stephen D. Regan, Ed.D.

Cedar Rapids