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There is are major flaws in Ms Gardners' contention that Tehachapi does not need a hospital.

Perhaps the most glaring is that 'by law' an ambulance cannot service an Urgent Care facility.  So, if you need medical help in a hurry, you will either have to drive your heart attack victim - hopefully not yourself or a near loved one - to the urgent care and then to a full service hospital 45 miles away, or call an ambulance and have them transport the victim directly to an accredited medical facility.   The ambulance must have 'the responsible party' to sign the victim into an emergency room in Bakersfield or Lancaster or wherever, which means that that party either has to go in the ambulance with the patient or follow the ambulance down the hill  -which I did, from the Tehachapi Hospital Emergency Room, several times years ago when my husband was the patient.

While a paient might be stabilized in a medical booth at WalMart, if the emergency is real, you need a full fledged emergency room medical crew and equipment to care for the victim.

One recent day when I was volunteering at the hosptial, five - count 'em - ambulances came into the emergency bay within 4 hours.  Rite Aide wouldn't have the space to line these people up in the aisle between the cosmetic displays.

Please be real.  Tehachapi is 40 plus miles from a general hospital.  While a simple broken bone can be splinted until a doctor can x-ray and assess it, a compound fracture needs that x-ray and care immediately.  Stroke and heart attacks need specialized equipment to save lives.  Serious bleeding and multiple breaks and contusions from accident need more than an asprin and a band aid.

Yes, we need a hospital with an accredited Emergency Department in Tehachapi.  I would hope that you never need more than an asprin and a band aid, but don't bet on it.

Sincerely,

Sr Malcontent  jtk