decorahnews.com reader floats creative plan for selling Winneshiek Medical Center

Decorah resident Rick Edwards thinks selling Winneshiek Medical Center could help a different local program:

 "I was wondering about the possibility of selling the hospital to the highest bidder and using the money to build a county wide health and wellness center to work with county residents in a number of ways to stay healthy and reduce healthcare costs.  We are already one of the healthiest counties in the state.  Can you imagine what we could do with a dedicated place to help residents improve their health and learn to live a healthy lifestyle?

Use half the money to build a facility, open to every county resident at no cost.  The other half of the money could be put into a trust fund, using the income to operate the facility.  Seems this would be true to the Hospital Board's mission, although I am not sure of the legality of this plan, or the desire to sell the hospital. Just imagine a facility that all county residents could use year around to get healthy living counseling, classes, free health screenings, and free medical advice from an on staff PA.  The possibility for programs is really endless.  Just a thought.  Anyone else?"