I can understand Tom Leahy’s (<a href="http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/whidbey/wnt/opinion/letters/112281449.html" title="Want our money? Give us the facts

“>Letters, Dec. 22) concern regarding Whidbey General Hospital’s retention of Moss Adams as their consultant for financial forecasts and planning. But I don’t think it should be considered that they retained a hired gun.

I am not sure they could have retained any financial planning firm and escaped the notion that they are working from the inside with a “hired gun.” We might consider that Whidbey General Hospital’s retention of any financial consultant to be prudent, Moss Adams or otherwise. Additionally, it should be noted that all Critical Access hospitals in Washington are required by the Department of Health to contract for an outside consultant to do financial analysis.

As a community member, I don’t care who they hire; however, I do care and appreciate that they retain such a consultant in planning a sound financial approach to meeting the hospital’s needs at any level, be it for remodeling a new wing, buying capital equipment, or expanding their already excellent health care services here at home.

I praise Whidbey General Hospital for seeking outside consultation with regard to Moss Adams, or whomever. I’d rather not put my eggs in a basket where sole discretion prevails and a shotgun approach leads to failed calculations and financial dismay.

Dean Peters

Freeland