In response to the Nov. 20 article in the Tri-City Herald, "A critical issue," I will have my say. Do not cut funds to Lourdes Medical Center. The staff there saved my life on Nov. 11 from a pulmonary embolism. My chest was so full of blood I could not breathe. It was not caused by a car wreck or an accident. My blood was simply too thick to support my limbs. I lost my daughter in 1984. Now I know why.

These people watched me spit up blood for three days, and I died every day waiting to see if I would live. After eight days, I could finally walk and think independently. Critical? How much? Lourdes operates in the black because the staff members are all experts in a field misaligned by politics and demographics. That doesn't mean the populace is less deserving because these hospitals (Prosser also) are too close together.

Thank you Mary, Mye, Nicole, Jedd, Kay, Dr. Clarence May, Padayatty, Jackie, Rosario and a dozen others who took shifts around the clock to protect me. Last, but not least, my Riverview Medical Group who gave me consistent physical medical help every week for years. I served my country, my family and now my heroes. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

DAVID GIBSON, Kennewick