Dear Editor,
My name is Pat Robertson (Miss Pat) and I had the honor of serving the people of Fairfield and Freestone County for 58 years. I never wanted to be a nurse, but God called me to do what I did. I had the privilege of working with Dr. Keller and Dr. Crossno at the hospital, and at the clinic (first in a building downtown and later in their new clinic) from 1952-1958. Then, I served as Dr. Keller’s nurse/assistant for over 50 years, until we both retired in 2010. We always had a good hospital and good services, with access to specialists that came from Corsicana to care for additional needs of our patients.
Our current medical facilities are excellent. The emergency room is well equipped, with excellent staff. We have good care, good food, and spacious hospital rooms for the comfort of our patients and families. We have quality ambulance and EMS access.
I know families that have moved here because they know we have local medical services. There are families and businesses that would go elsewhere if our medical facilities and health care providers were not readily available.
Without a hospital there are people that would not be alive today. There have been a lot of cases throughout the years where patients were stabilized here, and then were able to be moved elsewhere for further treatment.
Just like everyone else, I pay taxes every year. I pay school taxes, even though I have no kids. I pay city taxes, even though I may not utilize all of their services. I pay county taxes, and hospital district taxes. I gladly pay them! The proposed tax rate will affect me very little. The pocket change that I can save during a year will more than make up the increase in my taxes.
I cannot imagine having a town without a hospital. We need to do all we can to keep it open. We can all do our part in making sure the medical services that we can depend on remain available to the citizens of this area.
Pat Robertson (Miss Pat)
Fairfield, Texas
