Watching the massacre in Texas unfold in recent weeks, my thoughts immediately turned to Bradford.

News coverage showed the hospital in Uvalde, a town not much bigger than Bradford. Could such a horror happen in our town and, if so, could our hospital handle the many injured children? I shudder to think how the remaining employees at Bradford hospital could deal with such a tragedy in a hollowed-out facility that was once a beautiful and thriving place for comprehensive health care.

Bradford cardiologist Steven Herrmann put it bluntly in a recent letter to local industry: “Over the past few years, our hospital has been stripped to the barest of bones, leaving little more than an emergency department, limited in-patient capability, laboratory, radiology, and a smattering of ancillary services.”

Save Our Hospital, a grassroots organization of concerned citizens, has been researching the loss of our hospital for about a year, and looking at ways to move forward.

What we’ve learned is a sad mixture of greed and hubris and naïveté: Sometime after Bradford joined Olean Hospital about a decade ago, a gradual relocation of services began. Maternity care, for example, was moved across the line and then the lower number of patients was used to justify closing that department.

This “planned failure” was implemented across departments, services and patients. And when our numbers were sufficiently low, they argued for closing much of Bradford hospital and sending patients to Olean.

We have been left with an emergency room with a physician but without the tools to provide genuine care to anyone critically injured or ill. About a year ago, our intensive care unit was stripped out and taken to Olean.

Yes, we have 10-20 beds at our “hospital” but only a tele-doctor and nurse practitioner or physician assistant to monitor these patients so, again, nothing beyond the most basic care.

Let’s remember, too, that Kaleida’s original plan — yes, during a pandemic — excluded all in-patient beds. They kept 10 only on orders from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

We appreciate the employees who remain to care for the patients, and keep the doors open. You all are beyond dedicated. Thank you.

As for Kaleida and Upper Allegheny Health System, they have made some noteworthy management changes and added out-patient physician services to the Bradford area. We are grateful for that.

We’ve been told our hospital is under “new management” and “trying to turn things around.”

“New” people, perhaps, but the same old Kaleida. So while we sincerely wish them well, we cannot conceive Kaleida will abandon its plan to use Olean hospital as the main hub for health care in our region.

And, thus, the crux of the problem. Olean is 25 miles away. No strategic plan is going to erase those miles. Furthermore, Kaleida can’t improve our roads or make winter weather disappear.

And, lastly, Kaleida seems unable to change what lies at the end the road: Olean General Hospital, which still struggles to accept Bradford patients and, when it does, provides care many have found wanting.

Bradford may not be as robust and busy as it was 10 years ago, but it is still big enough to support its own hospital — if surrounding towns are any indication. Just look to Kane, Coudersport, Warren or St. Marys, for example.

And with the loss of population over the years, what remains are people who are older, poorer and sicker. Even before the hospital was hollowed out, our region was considered “medically underserved.” If anything we needed more health care; they gave us less.

Kaleida cites “safety” as one reason why we should go to Olean. We see it differently. Health care in America has become a commodity where the almighty dollar rules. And no matter how Kaleida justifies its plan, it is underpinned by the money generated by Bradford area people who seek treatment at Olean and, ultimately, at Kaleida’s holdings in Buffalo.

And, adding insult to injury, they refuse to give or sell us our hospital back. And they won’t sell it to any other health care system. Why? Re-read last paragraph. (Competition.)

Last fall, at a town hall meeting, an individual suggested the two hospitals simply get a “divorce.” We feel certain we could find someone willing to provide our own fully fledged hospital in Bradford — one capable of even handling a terrible event, such as an explosion at the refinery.

One final thought on this whole issue. I’m angry. I think a lot of us are. And afraid. How dare they take away our hospital, bought and paid for many times over by Bradford people?

Yes, they took equipment and services and a few million bucks. But it’s so much more. They have broken a vibrant and noble health care system that served our community more than 100 years. Bradford hospital was a family.

To us, the balance sheet is more than even.

Right now, however, there is only one knight in shining armor. You. Me. All of us ordinary people in Bradford who are too sick or too old or too marginalized. The people with few options. The ones who will pay with their lives.

Over the next few weeks, we will be rolling out a campaign to persuade our friends in Olean and Buffalo to give us back what is OURS. It’s called Bradford hospital for a reason.

We must fight. It has become a cliche to say virtually any issue is a matter of life and death but, this time, it’s literally true. People have died. We have a list. It will continue to grow.

Join with us, please, as we try to assemble a team willing to work with Kaleida, if possible, but to go in another direction if necessary. We intend to explore all options on the table, and maybe even come up with a new way of thinking about rural health.

Regardless, we’re not about to give up. We hope you aren’t either.

(Marty Wilder is a founder of Save Bradford Hospital, SaveBradfordHospital.org. She can be reached at martywilder7@me.com or 362-2442.)