We are more than pleased in these very hard economic times — and with the uncertainty of the fallout from the recently passed Health bill — that our local hospital is still thinking and planning for the future needs of our community.

In Wednesday’s paper, we announced the hospital’s intention to purchase a special da Vinci robotic surgery system. If you missed it you can read about by going to covnews.com.

This system will put our hospital on par with most of the major hospitals in the state.

Having this piece of equipment will make many surgeries less invasive and much safer.

This system is not cheap: the cost is $1.75 million dollars.

The purchase is not guaranteed. The hospital administration will have to be creative on coming up with a way to finance the new equipment.

We appreciate the fact that we have leadership at the Newton Medical Center who are not putting their heads in the sand because of tough economic times but are willing to move forward boldly to insure that the well being of our community is a constant number one concern.