Letters to the editor July 4
Free speech
As reported in the July 1 Inter Lake, library trustee Cuthbertson proposed eliminating the part of the library fair treatment policy which says: “Libraries should cooperate with persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgement of free expression and free access to ideas.”
She does not want to defend free speech.
Free expression, free speech is one of America’s basis freedoms. Free speech is relied upon by people of the left and people of the right in American politics. Free speech is in the Constitution, which elected officials swear to uphold.
Throughout American history people have defended and even given their lives in support of American freedoms including the right of free speech. It is un-American and unpatriotic to fail to defend free speech for all persons.
Here’s hoping trustee Cuthbertson gets the message.
— Jon Heberling, Whitefish
Nurses negotiations
Nurses at Logan Health are concerned with management’s identified priorities. It appears their goal is continued acquisition of medical facilities, (the current merger with Billings Clinic) while the nationwide nursing shortage continues to cause short staffing, nurse burnout and lack of retention.
We are currently at the bargaining table, and have made our priorities known, and identified that the only way to recruit and retain quality nurses is with livable wages.
Our community deserves the best nursing care possible, and your nurses deserve to live in the community they work in. To recruit nurses nationwide, Logan Health must improve wages. With the rise in cost of living in the Flathead Valley, nurses are leaving every day. The lens management looks through must include more than just nursing wages in Montana.
We, your Logan Health Nurses, are asking the community to stand with us. Let management at Logan Health know they need to increase wages that will recruit and retain, in order for nurses to be able to afford to live here and provide the excellent care our community deserves and respects, while changing their priority from acquisitions to safe staffing.
— Donna M. Nelson, Bigfork
Overdose deaths
The article in the Inter Lake on fentanyl brings an important focus on a serious problem in our nation and our communities that is taking the lives and livelihood of many young people. It is important when discussing fentanyl to emphasize that Medication Assisted Treatment (or MAT) is the best way of decreasing overdose deaths.
Overwhelming scientific evidence supports that MAT is the most effective treatment, and it is the standard of care in treating those addicted to fentanyl. Use of either buprenorphine or methadone, both FDA approved medications for treating opioid addiction, decreases the risk of overdose deaths by 70% or more.
Multiple groups — including the CDC, AMA, American Society of Addiction Medicine, and others – have recommended that MAT be more available and that barriers to MAT be addressed so more people can access this highly effective therapy.
Starting MAT, along with counseling and other treatment modalities, can give people their lives back, keep them from overdosing, and help fight this scourge in our country. We all need to work to decrease the stigma that surrounds those with addictions, including the stigma against the use of life-saving medications such as buprenorphine and methadone.
MAT is available at many primary-care offices and also at a number of opioid treatment programs in Montana. If you or a loved one is struggling from using fentanyl, you should talk to you primary care provider or contact a treatment program for help.
— Dr. Robert Sherrick, Kalispell