Dear editor,The recent announcement that the new hospital is to be located near Crown Isle is a ludicrous idea.1. Any and everybody who has any medical training is aware of the “golden hour” in receiving urgent care when a person is seriously injured. To place the hospital at Crown Isle is certainly convenient for those in the immediate vicinity of Comox; however, it is not so convenient for the majority of others and places many of them potentially outside the golden hour rule. 2. Access. There are a number of factors that can restrict quick access for the majority of people within the catchment area this hospital is to serve such as bridges over the Courtenay River (subject to flooding and congestion, and what happens if a quake knocks these out?).Why would we locate both primary medical facilities of the Comox Valley in close proximity to each other and in an area that can be cut off from the majority in a natural disaster? Congestion of traffic in Courtenay (getting busier every year), Ryan Road hill (rumour has it, it snows once in awhile around here and this road, the main road to the proposed location, is not negotiable at times).I have trouble finding any brilliance in this location. We have a road structure in the Valley that is best served by funnelling traffic away from Comox, not toward it.I say balderdash. What it really means is that by locating the hospital near Crown Isle, it results in a demand by Comox and commercial interests that the whole Valley should now be on the hook to fund increased access to development lands in the area.Why should we, as taxpayers, be saddled with this when we have another location that already has much better universal accesses, namely the Inland Island Highway and Courtenay connector, in place? Who really is benefiting most here?3. Cost. The land that is proposed will need to be purchased at, are we not told, current market value? Ouch, this is not going to be cheap. I have been told that had the hospital been located at the Island Highway location, the developer was going to donate the land.4. The Island Highway. Not only does it seem most serious traffic accidents that have claimed lives have happened on the Island Highway in recent years, which is reason itself to want to locate the hospital within easy access to it, but will not the majority of people who will rely on this facility be better served with a more centralized location that has easier access from various directions?Seems to me that there are some not-so-nice politics in the works here by some who are poised to benefit at the expense of the majority of the rest. VIHA should have had better sense than to let this decision stand, as they should be protecting the interests of the Valley as a whole when condoning the location of this important publicly funded resource.B. Funk,Cumberland