Down East region needs MRI

To the editor:
    The Down East Community Hospital in Washington County has entered their video in a national contest to win a magnetic resonance imaging unit. They need an MRI because the nearest MRI is in Bangor which is two hours away in good weather.
    The hospital with the most votes wins. The Machias Valley News Observer did an article describing what a handful of hospital employees had done: They ordered lobster suits, wrote a song, traveled a couple of hours to Bar Harbor for filming which failed but they persisted and remade the video in Machias. Now it is our turn to do something. All we have to do is vote once a day on every available computer and encourage others to do the same.
    Please go to www.winanmri.com, select Down East Community Hospital, watch the video (it’s quite good), then follow the directions to vote. You may need to install a flash player or Adobe which is available for free over the Internet. In Washington County many people have dial-up Internet service which can be painfully slow but after the first voting session, the process is much, much quicker. Remember, you do not have to watch the video every time you vote. For those on cable or high speed, subsequent voting sessions take less than a minute.
    The Down East region could really use our support. DECH is the only Maine hospital in the contest. Could we get all of Maine to help? In addition to your daily home vote, could you enlist your employer and colleagues in the cause? How about the computers at your local schools, libraries, sister hospitals? Do you know a group willing to do the first voting on a bunch of computers, and leave a notice encouraging others to vote. (No need to worry, subsequent votes are simply rejected.) This would be real community service for schools and businesses.
    If all Aroostook residents and Maine-lovers unite, we can win an MRI for this remote, rural, and economically depressed community. Please vote daily for Down East Community Hospital at www.winanmri.com. through December 31. Thank you.
Joanne Carpenter
Houlton