Huckleberries Online

Spokane Shriners Hospital May Shut

Posted by DFO

March 30, 2009 4:28 p.m. • 7 comments

The Shriners Hospital for Children in Spokane, which provides pediatric specialty care programs at no cost to families, may close as a part of sweeping budget cuts. Hospital executives are telling the 172 employees this afternoon that the hospital is on a list for possible closure. A decision will be made in the coming months. Story here. (Colin Mulvany/Spokesman-Review)

Seven comments on this post so far. Add yours!

hmoffsuite on March 30 at 4:39 p.m.
Last year, I went on a 6 day classic car rally thing that was held for the benefit of the Spokane Shriners hospital. There were a number of Shriners along that are dedicated to the hospital. In spending lots of time with these fellows, I learned a great deal about that program. It is one of the most generous of all charitable programs and I really hold it in a very high regard. Darn shame if it is forced to close down in Spokane.
JeanieSpokane on March 30 at 4:50 p.m.
I posted this at Community Comment:

I was born with curvature of the spine and not really bothered by it until I was in fourth grade. Add to that being pigeon-toed, so much that I had to wear orthopedic shoes. They were profoundly ugly shoes, too, for a nine-year-old. I was afraid I would be ruined for life with those ugly shoes. (I write about them at http://jeaniespokane.blogspot.com/2008/04/ugly-brown-shoes-and-belly-dancer.html.)

Before the shoes, I spent a few days at the Shriner’s Hospital. No surgeries – just tests. Checking my back. Checking my feet. Checking my legs. There were dozens of kids there my age – many paralyzed with polio. Shriner’s has been an indelible part of Spokane. I can’t imagine where these children will go without Shriner’s. This “recession” is like a bad cancer, metastasizing into the bone

I am worried! Hospitals are laying off because of unpaid patient bills. Shriner’s may close. The Post Office is laying off several hundred people. Where is this let-us-call-it-what-it-really-is depression taking us?
Frum Helen Back on March 30 at 10:58 p.m.
My dad was a Shriner and I know how very much the hospitals meant him. Very sad news for all the kids who need help.
Shannon on March 30 at 11:40 p.m.
My daughter and nephew have both been treated at the Shriner’s Hospital in Spokane and I cannot say enough good things about everyone associated with this place. Everyone from the receptionists to the doctors were amazing! I have never been to another place that is more kid-friendly. It would be a major loss to our area if they closed! Thank you to the Shriners and everyone who donates money to support the hospital, it is put to good use!

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D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.