"They've made the decision, which means we don't count,” she told News Center 7’s James Buechele on Wednesday evening. “That's just how it is."
Stone, Mount Carmel Pastor Chad White and Omega Baptist Church Pastor Daryl Ward offered their reactions -- as well as the reactions of the communities they serve -- in the wake of Premier Health's announcement Wednesday morning that Good Samaritan Hospital will be closing by the end of the year.
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Stone, a member at Mount Carmel for 50 years, said her three daughters and four grandchildren were born at the hospital. She was a patient there, as was her grandmother and late husband. Stone said Premier officials should have come to the community and at least given the community a chance to react.
"If they had come to the community a year or two ago and said, 'we're planning on closing Good Samaritan Hospital and what do you guys think?' At least that would have been a good faith thing if they could have acted like they cared. But they didn't," Stone said.
Pastor White, who also is executive organizer with SCLC Dayton, echoed Stone's sentiment. He, too, has been a patient at Good Samaritan and worries about access to healthcare because that while Miami Valley Hospital is five miles away, the distance can be great if one doesn't have adequate transportation.
"I don't know the numbers, I don't know the fiscal issues the hospital is facing, but I do know it will be a great void," White said. "There will be a great abyss that will take place once Good Samaritan leaves that part of the city.
"There are great concerns in the community about jobs, access to adequate healthcare," he said. "And, is this systemic racism? Is it intentional disinvestment in the west Dayton area on the heels of all the other things that west Dayton has come through?
"Does corporate America have a moral compass or a social conscience to say that 'we need to look at areas that are being impacted above and beyond any other areas' and say, 'do we take some loss or do we take some hit to stay because we have a moral conscience as a corporate citizen in the city of Dayton?' "
White said the news of the closing "literally took the wind out of my sails."
Pastor Ward called the news "devastating."
His edifice is right down the street from the hospital, which is at 2222 Philadelphia Drive in northwest Dayton.
He said the leaving is not a new concern. "This has been a part of the ongoing devastation that's been going on in this community. I'm angry at the leaders of our community in terms of why can't we think about the best for the community."
Pastor Ward said he'll be praying that the businesses near the hospital survive, despite the news of Good Samaritan's eventual leaving.
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