I very much enjoyed the interview with Brad Berk ("Brad Berk's 1000-pound Gorilla," July 9). The recent economic growth at the University of Rochester has certainly helped Rochester stay afloat during a time when many local industries have substantially downsized.

I was a little surprised to read his comment that the UR had nothing to do with the closing of Genesee Hospital. There is certainly enough blame for that closing to spread around, but I would ask Dr. Berk if he thought that the deep-pocketed purchase of two Genesee-affiliated, large, and prestigious primary-care practices by the U R, and the potential loss of admissions and referrals to Genesee, might have had some impact on the financial future of Genesee.

Certainly the risk to the future of Genesee could not have been ignored as part of the decision process. One could argue ad infinitum as to all the reasons why these purchases were made, but the bottom line is that they did occur and became part of the dismal outlook for Genesee.

Genesee's birthing center, emergency department, parking garage, and surgical suites were state of the art at the time of closing. These structures have since been reconstructed and spread out among the other acute-care hospitals, and this community is still trying to catch up with an adequate number of in-patient beds.

While Genesee's closing has greatly helped the financial performance of Highland and Unity, the additional cost to the community to replace the lost capacity of Genesee has been substantial and is ongoing.

The grand old Genesee Hospital of Alexander Street is dead and about to be buried, but not forgotten.

TOD TIMMEL, PENFIELD

Timmel is a former GeneseeHospital employee