Congratulations go out to everyone associated with making the move from the old hospital to the new $330-million hospital along Baraga Avenue in Marquette. It was a monumental task to move all the patients in one day and get them settled into the new hospital. From what we understand for the most part the move went very smoothly.

We are glad to see the pride being shown by many of the employees in their new facility. At a time when many hospitals are struggling to stay alive, Marquette just got a brand-new state of the art facility. This is something that all employees can be proud of and the new facilities should bring a new enthusiasm level to all employees of UP Health System-Marquette.

We acknowledge that there were a few problems, like the parking shortage, but it looks like that has been fixed with temporary gravel parking lots, which will be paved later in the year. We also assume there will be a few bugs that have to be worked out now that the new facility is open, but for the most part having a brand new $330 million hospital during these trying times is something for the entire region to be excited about.

We now would like to call on Duke LifePoint to do the proper due diligence in finding a strong replacement for UPHS-Marquette CEO Brian Sinotte who is leaving for a new job in Chicago. Brian did a great job in helping the hospital bounce back from some challenging times. We hope to have someone that can assimilate into our community the same way that Brian did. We need a top-notch person with a strong working knowledge of hospital administration, but we also need to have someone that will fit in with the culture of the Upper Peninsula. There is a great future ahead for UP Health System in Marquette and finding the right leadership will be an extremely important part of that future.

We believe the current employee base is full of quality Yoopers, who offer the best services available in this area. Now they have a new facility to match their quality work ethic. The future looks good right now for UP Health System-Marquette.

We also want to encourage the people of the Central Upper Peninsula to support the new hospital. There has been a significant amount of outmigration taking place over the past several years. It is important that people choose to have their health care done locally when at all possible. We realize that there are some specialties that people need to go out of the area for, but we believe for the most part that UP Health System-Marquette offers some of the best health care available in the area. The best health care being offered by some of the best health care workers in the area equals great reasons to have your health care done locally.

We have said this before, but it is worth repeating. The situation happening in Dickinson County with them fighting to keep their hospital open is reality. If people don’t support their local health care facility, it could cease to exist.

The quality ratings have improved significantly at UP Health System-Marquette. There are many excellent physicians at the hospital — including Dr. Craig Coccia, the chief of staff — who are concerned about maintaining quality health care for the Central Upper Peninsula. It is now up to the people of the Central Upper Peninsula to look to UP Health System-Marquette for their future health care needs. As a community we all have a vested interest is seeing our new hospital be successful in the future.