Dear Editor and residents of Sistersville and Tyler County,

For the past 15 years, it has been my great privilege and honor to have served you, at least in a small way, while providing services at Sistersville General Hospital.

During this time, I have had the opportunity to interact with most of you, learn about you, your families and lives and in the process, have made good friends and my life have been changed and made better because of it. It is my hope that at least in a small way, yours have also been changed so.

It was always my heartfelt intention to treat everyone with respect, dignity and love while providing the best medical care possible. I truly hope this was so perceived. To anyone who has felt otherwise, I beg their forgiveness and assure them there never was an intention of offending or demeaning them in any way.

I am so proud to have spent my best years of medical practice at SGH. To have been part of the transformation and growth that has and is continuing to occur. To be a part of a team of truly dedicated, competent and most importantly, caring people. I am very proud to have had the opportunity to know them, work with them and love them as family, my SGH family.

As a community, you all should be proud of your hospital, that while being the smallest in the State nonetheless strive to provide the best care with personal attention, right at your doorsteps. Granted, not all the technologies of bigger places are found at SGH. But what you find here you can’t find in larger institutions no matter where you look.

So, with mixed emotions, I am saying farewell to all. I am looking forward to spending a little more time with my family and pursuing other interests but in a way, I am also sad because I leave behind all of you who had become a part of my life.

May God always continue to bless you in all you do and may He continue to provide you with dedicated and loving physicians.

Ramon H. Fagundo MD