Letters to the editor for Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015

Community health centers provide vital care

When we talk about healthcare, it’s important to remember that even though more Americans have health insurance coverage these days, millions of people still struggle to find a place to go for regular preventative care. A key part of the solution lies in our nation’s community health centers, which have provided quality, affordable care for 50 years.

Health centers like ours across the country save the U.S. healthcare system more than $24 billion every year in reduced overall costs from preventable hospitalizations and avoidable emergency room visits. In 2014, the Silver State’s community health centers saved Nevada’s healthcare system $98.2 million. Sustained federal investment is critical to our success and survival and in the current budget environment, that’s not always possible.

Earlier this year, health centers barely averted a massive funding cut. Were it not for the broad bipartisanship support from Congress, 15,000 to 18,000 Nevadans would have lost access to care. This would have affected hundreds of families in our community. Today, we are grateful for their support and are using National Health Center Week 2015 (August 9-15) to thank them for their hard work.

All too often we have been cynical about government and our leaders in office. Today, however, we are grateful because there are working families in our health center waiting rooms getting affordable healthcare thanks to their vote.

Nancy Hook

Carson City

Answer questions on downtown

Please have a writer tell the public the truth on downtown. How many businesses will this help? Which businesses will this help? The paper said the cost was fully funded $11 million.

Carson City is a dictatorship because the Board of Supervisors made it that way by not putting it to the people to vote. The mayor spoke out and said it was only going to cost the average household $12.50.

I am tired of being lied to by politicians. There are 23,548 households in Carson City. Multiply that by $12.50, that gives you a total of $294,350. Where is this money going to? Please answer all these questions.

Charles Herman

Carson City