Hospital Bond: One tough sell. One needed time for Midland to step up

I cringed when I read the Ruth Campbell's story on the latest on the hospital bond. The numbers just can't be ignored.
$175 million
$115 million
The possible total project cost and bond total, respectively, are sure to leave a couple jaws on the floor Thursday morning. If Wes Perry weren't getting his tan on in old Mexico, he would probably offer a "Wow, that's crazy."
Unlike the silliness that was the convention center folly of a few years ago, he also might follow with, "Wow, that's needed."
Because a new hospital really is.

This is where I offer full disclosure part I: My wife is a RN, working a couple shifts a week in the nursery at Midland Memorial.
Full disclosure part II: She is still going to be working, no matter the vote. Being a nurse, she's in high demand in Midland or Odessa, which has a NICU (her specialty). Midland Memorial does not, but that's another topic for another day.

This is also the place where I mention I am not part of the Reporter-Telegram editorial board, so don't read into this as a paper endorsement. The decision to endorse will be made by smarter people at a later date, if needed.

Getting back to the topic at hand, we focus on the numbers, which are really hard to forget (nine figures has a way of being memorable and that is biggest obstacle potential bond proponents face). It's a lot of money. It would be if oil was $140 a barrel and definitely is with oil being in the $40s.

Still, this community is not getting younger and quality health care is a must. And while I have supported most referendums in the last decade, I don't believe any is more important to where the community will be in the future. Build it and our needs are taken care of for the foreseeable future. Don't and that facility which was built probably about the time my parents were at Midland High becomes a larger motivator for people to take their health care dollars to other communities (Odessa, Lubbock, Dallas, Houston).
We need a facility which shows that we take our health care every bit as seriously as we do our sports teams. Prospective doctors deciding to make MIdland their next stop expect it. Our citizens who might have no choice but to use Midland Memorial, definitely deserve it.

There will be many reasons this bond is a tough sell. I can think of 115 million to start with, but should it come before the voters in May, the community must forget all those big ticket projects suggested and acted upon by our taxing entities in the last decade or so.
They must rid themselves of the bond fatigue which, no doubt, has left some people weary come tax time. This will be hard as voters just passed a jail bond in November 2008 and MISD waits in the wings with a high-priced November 2009 wish list of its own. I say judge each on their own merits.
Lastly, they must not think of the economy. Midlanders set that aside when they passed the Sports Complex in 1999 when oil was probably one-third the price it is now.
And I think we can all agree, this is a much better investment in the future of the community.

It will be a tough sell. Let's hope bond proponents have a campaign worthy of such an attention-grabbing figure.