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Birth Center
EDITOR: The Providence/St. Joseph’s proposed closure of the Family Birth Center at Petaluma Valley Hospital represents a repudiation of their commitment to women’s health in our community, and is in direct violation of the purchase agreement to which our citizenry voted for based on their assurances in 2020.
Presented as an issue of “safety” for women giving birth is a falsehood as there is and would be nothing unsafe about births at PVH, but their failure to offer a fair and reasonable contract for birth-related anesthesia has led to the current crisis episode. Physicians and midwives safely delivered babies at PVH for decades without the use of epidural anesthesia. The existence of a competent family centered birthing unit in Petaluma has long been a thorn in the side of St. Joseph’s, and only the existence of a contractual obligation to maintain the local unit prevented its disappearance 25 years ago while the hospital was leased by them.
What Providence/St. Joseph’s has attempted to disguise in this maneuver is their need to prop up and restore their own obstetrical unit at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, which was down on staff until the recent agreement with Petaluma and other obstetricians and midwives to provide adequate obstetric call services. They cannot maintain their existence as a regional Trauma Center and the income that center provides without a functional OB unit being present at that Santa Rosa hospital. PVH Birth Center’s closure is a cynical calculation on their part and violates their expressed core values of dignity, excellence and integrity, as they seek to abandon women’s health in an attempt to strengthen their bottom line.
They are putting corporate profit before the health of the families of our community and they are blatantly violating their commitments and our trust.
Eric Holmberg MD
Petaluma
Denouce antisemitism
EDITOR: This is a follow-up to my previous letter on the need for a formal antisemitism resolution to be adopted by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. There is a widening circle of synagogues and social service organizations that has coalesced around this dire issue.
Hate speech and violence triggered by propaganda is on the rise nationally, especially against Jewish people. We have seen a 27% increase in hate propaganda and a whopping 127% increase in violent assaults against Jewish people. In California, hate targeted against Jewish people is increasing at a rate greater than the obscenely high national average, with a 32% increase in antisemitic incidents since 2021. Many of these actions are fueled by hateful propaganda carried in the press and on social media.
There have been many reported antisemitic events across the Bay Area, including in Sonoma County. Groups targeting the Jewish community have also been emboldened to target LBGTQIA+, AAPI and African American communities with hate. One of the most virulent hate groups spreading antisemitic, LBGTQIA+ and other hate propaganda is located right here in Sonoma County—the “Goyim Defense League.”
Given this national, regional and Sonoma County context, it is essential for the county to take a strong stand against antisemitism and all forms of hate speech. We are a key location where antisemitism networks register their businesses of hate. As such, the county has a special obligation to take action. Just last year, Marin County passed just such an ordinance in response to the regional and local antisemitic hate county residents are experiencing. Contact the Board of Supervisors and reach out to your religious, civic, and civil rights organizations. It’s time for us all to join forces against religious and ethnic hate.
Sandra Anfang
Petaluma
No winners
EDITOR: So much has been felt and written about the incident involving neighbors and their pets in Petaluma in which chickens and a dog were killed. There were no winners here. Mistakes were made, animals lost, but the one aspect that seems to be overlooked is the children. The Frey and Henry families have young children and grandchildren who were unwittingly involved and observed as a horrible situation ended in violence with firearms. This could have been such a teachable moment for them if handled differently on both sides. What a waste.
Maura Mooney
Petaluma
Enforce existing laws
EDITOR: Once again, a deadly shooting, only this time closer to home. I am tired of hearing the same old pleas from politicians about needing new stricter gun control laws. No, we don’t. We already have the laws needed to address what is going on. Don’t add to the confusion and clutter up what is already there. What we need is for politicians to take aim at our court system, demanding stronger action against the violators. Hold them more responsible for their actions. Enforce what we have with tougher penalties. New laws just add to the quagmire.
Scott Waterman
Petaluma
Send letters to publisher Emily Charrier at emily.charrier@arguscourier.com.
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