To the Editor:

Reading the recent Enterprise article on the closing of the Berne medical service, I became increasingly curious about the tone of “catastrophe,” to use just one of the words of alarm in describing this unfortunate happening. Repeatedly, references to an alleged absence of care in the Hilltowns made me wonder whether your reporter knew nothing of the excellent care given in Westerlo by Dr. Myria Emeny — who in fact is carrying on the unusually caring and effective community medical care pioneered by Dr. Perkins, who is mentioned early on in this report.

At last, as if in a separate story, the practice of Dr. Emeny was given attention at the end of the article.  Doc Myria, as she calls herself, seems to have been interviewed, fully expressing her commitment to the care she gives her Hilltown neighbors, and her philosophy of practice and availability, including home visits — and the fact that she is accepting new patients.

In fact, a Berne friend had called me the day before the paper arrived in the mail, telling me of the Berne closing and asking for a reference, should I have one. I immediately recommended that my friend explore a relationship with Dr. Emeny.

My experience has been one of uniquely detailed and compassionate care, including direct and consistent availability, counter to the impression in the article that appointments are made solely by way of the internet.

I feel for the patients in Berne who are living through the distress of losing the familiarity of a known physician. As a patient with Lyme disease, my mainstream physician in Guilderland was indifferent to my complaints and ignorant of the details of the disease, as well as uncooperative in working with this ubiquitous misery.

Imagine my relief in finding Doc Myria here in the Hilltowns, knowledgeable about Lyme but also comprehensive in her attention to all details of wellness and illness.  I hope your readers stayed with this article all the way, so that they might learn that the Hilltowns are not without a dedicated physician in their midst.

Choosing a physician is surely entirely personal, but since Dr. Emeny is in the Hilltown community, of which Westerlo is an integral part, people seeking care would do well to at least be in touch with her — as long as she still has room for more patients in the neighborhood.

Joanna Bull

Rensselaerville