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Readers’ Views

A meal for everyone

To the Editor:

The Christian Church of Fairmont is once again serving a complete Christmas dinner on Christmas Day as a gift to the community and surrounding area.

Christmas is universally celebrated as a time of gift giving, in which people of all walks of life emulate God’s giving of his Son to redeem all mankind. It is in this spirit of giving that the Christian Church invites you to come together with others of like mind to celebrate Jesus … God’s gift to us … over a delicious meal and good fellowship with other believers.

This free meal is more than a gift of love, it’s also an invitation for you to share in this labor of love. If you feel so inclined and would like to be part of this endeavor, call Pastor Glen Davis at (507) 236-6338.

The church is handicap-accessible and is located at 625 Johnson St. in Fairmont. We will serve from noon until 2 p.m.

Pastor Glen Davis

Christian Church of Fairmont

Mayo: Why Dubai?

To the Editor:

On Sunday, Nov. 24, Shaikh Shakhbout Medical City (SSMC) signed a joint venture agreement with Mayo Clinic, which will see “both entities working together to run the United Arab Emirates’ largest hospital” (located in Dubai).

Mayo Clinic, touted as one of the world’s best hospitals, agrees to help operate a 700-plus bed hospital 12,000 miles away from Rochester. Mayo Clinic leaves workers and residents in peril in rural hospitals throughout southern Minnesota less than 100 miles from Rochester? Why? Is this morally right? Where does the ethics of the Mayo brothers enter here? Can morality have a place in the numbers of the Mayo Clinic accountants? Mayo Clinic has a 2030 plan. Where is Dubai in the 2030 plan? Will Fairmont still have a hospital in 2030?

Is it possible that Mayo Clinic would give more attention to Fairmont if Fairmont’s 10,000 residents could provide the monetary incentives of Dubai? Yes.

Dubai is different from Fairmont. For example, according to Wikipedia, “Freedom of speech in Dubai is limited, with both residents and citizens facing severe sanctions from the government for speaking out against the royal family or local laws and culture. Most of the low-paid laborers are victims of human trafficking or forced labor. Some women are even trafficked into the growing sex trade in Dubai, a center of human trafficking and prostitution.”

It is possible that the brand new 741-bed hospital, the owners of which Mayo Clinic entered into the agreement to help run, was built by modern-day slaves. If one does even a cursory internet or YouTube search, it sure appears possible.

Why Dubai? The answer is simple. Today’s health care business is based on money and profits. Not people. Until medicine in the United States and at Mayo Clinic puts people above profit, agreements such as the one noted above, will flourish. As rural hospitals die.

Peter Engstrom

Fairmont

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