I compliment the doctors and others who have come forward and explained some of the problems we are facing in regard to the continuation of our hospital in Machias.

I must admit the method they have used to bring these problems to the attention of the public is much easier to understand than the unsigned, smoke-and-mirrors article the Down East Community Hospital had in the recent edition of its local paper.

I am also, along with others, curious about the quorum management fee we are paying. The smallest six-figure amount is $100,000. How many times is the figure multiplied to reach the ridiculous figure they, “The Quorum,” are charging us?

If we just multiplied it by two it would cover what we lost in April; that amount was $186,363. So I guess that means if we did not have to pay Quorum we would have shown a profit of $23,637.

Now this Quorum group is a horse of another color. I am familiar with quorum, “small q.” Like, if we have five members on the planning board, in order to have a legal meeting we must have a quorum of three. When I went to grade school in the one-room building at Hall’s Mills many years ago, the teacher taught us that a noun is a person, place or thing. Using that as a guide that would probably make “Quorum” a thing.

John W. Bagley

Jonesboro