From the day the doors at Indianapolis City Hospital opened in the 1850s to the Wishard Memorial Hospital we know today, Wishard has always been the people’s hospital – a place where all can go to receive high-quality medical care. I know this because I was born there.
Through the skill and devotion of its nurses and physicians, Wishard provides the gift of healing. For trauma patients, Wishard’s gift is a Level I trauma center that provides care when life is on the line and every second counts.
For burn victims, Wishard’s gift is the region’s only adult burn center. For those with everyday illnesses, Wishard’s gift is wellness in the form of primary and preventive care offered at its 10 community health centers. With more than 1.4 million outpatient visits last year, Wishard is one of the five largest safety-net systems in the country, and its gifts are felt on every block of our great city.
Now, by virtue of a $40 million gift from Sidney and Lois Eskenazi (the largest ever to Wishard and one of the largest to a public hospital in history), Wishard Health Services can expand its mission of compassion.
Sidney and Lois represent the very best of Indianapolis – people of kindness, selflessness and community spirit. Their unprecedented generosity deserves recognition, which is why the Health and Hospital Corp. of Marion County rightly opted to change the name of the hospital and health system to the Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital and Eskenazi Health, respectively.
Throughout its storied history, Wishard has had many names. But at the end of the day, it has always been the high quality care offered to all and afforded inside that determined the hospital’s value to the community. Eskenazi Health will carry on and improve upon those traditions.
This is a great day for our hospital and for the people of Marion County.
Congressman André Carson
U.S. House of Representatives
Indiana, District 7
This mom supports school vouchers
I am a concerned parent that is in favor of the new school voucher legislation. My daughters had been in a private school since pre-school. As a single parent, it has been a struggle to pay tuition, but I feel the long term benefits far outweigh the temporary struggle.
My girls attended a public charter school for the first time for the 2010-2011 school year. If I had to choose one word to describe the experience it would be, chaos.
My 6th grader’s classroom had inexperienced teachers, disruptive behavioral problems and a low expectations.
Previously my oldest child was excited about school and wanted to be a math teacher. However, this last school year I watched her light and excitement start to dim. Her entire demeanor changed for the worse, and when I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up she shrugged her shoulders. After a long discussion I discovered that her math and science teacher could not teach due to the chaotic atmosphere.
She wasn’t learning because the disruptive students were a terror to the entire classroom. My third grader had a more experienced teacher, but she had to work twice as hard in order to keep a small degree of order in her classroom.
Therefore my youngest child learned the bare minimum and did not pass parts of the iStep test. Unacceptable.
I have to make a choice. We are returning to a private school environment as soon as possible. I want my children to learn in a safe and high achieving environment. The public school system failed my girls for the one year that they attended. I will not sacrifice their formative years to an inoperable system.
The money allotted for my children should follow them to the school they attend.
I support a parent’s right to choose the school that works best for their children. I support legislation that will make it more affordable for me to provide the best education I can for my girls. I support efforts to prepare my children for the future.
Shay Mays, Indianapolis
