National Rural Health Month

Floor Speech

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Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentlewoman for her leadership with this bipartisan Rural Healthcare Caucus.

It is incredibly important and really defines my life. Prior to coming to Congress 15 years ago, I spent 28 years working in rural healthcare as a nonprofit community healthcare therapist, rehab service manager, a manager within rural hospitals, and a licensed nursing home administrator. I witnessed firsthand the challenges that individuals that live in rural America, rural communities face when it comes to healthcare.

I am acutely aware of the challenges many face when it comes to obtaining reasonably priced healthcare. It is especially critical for rural America, much like the 15th Congressional District of Pennsylvania that I have the privilege of serving today.

As a Member of Congress representing nearly one-third of the land mass of Pennsylvania, one of the most rural districts east of the Mississippi, I am keenly aware of the problems my constituents face when accessing medical services.

I always say that when I see rural hospitals in dire challenges, and we are struggling with some of that right now in our district, that the end results in a commute that can mean the difference between life and death to be able to get the services they need within the time frame that is required.

I saw that firsthand, quite frankly, as a volunteer firefighter and emergency medical technician for several decades. The importance of being able to get from that accident scene or from their home to a healthcare setting, a hospital setting in a timely manner, especially for those eventually requiring some type of surgery.

We talk about the golden hour. It is not an hour in many parts of rural America. We are facing a healthcare crisis in our Nation's rural areas. These often disadvantaged populations are still struggling to access affordable, quality care. Many remain uninsured. Most are underinsured. However, access to quality care remains the largest challenge.

Even if it is not the bricks and mortar, and we have seen so many of those closed over the past 15 years, it is the talent, the skill, the expertise within that bricks and mortar, the physicians, the nurses, the technicians. It is difficult.

As someone who used to participate in recruiting this talent into our rural hospitals, it is very challenging to get that, to be able to be successful with that. That is why I am a big fan of telemedicine.

I am really excited about the advances that we have made in telemedicine over the past decade or so. There is more that needs to be done.

Even when people gain access to health insurance, it does not equal access to healthcare. Rural hospitals across the country are closing, leaving patients without access to the emergency rooms and long-term care facilities. Quite frankly, where they are not closing, they are always struggling for staff. If you don't have access to qualified healthcare professionals, I don't care how we pay for healthcare, what kind of shiny package, what ribbon we put on it, there is no access to healthcare without those qualified, highly skilled providers.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to work with the gentlewoman as a part of this caucus, and proud to be a founding member of the Rural Health Caucus. I am proud to work with the gentlewoman as a great member of the House Agriculture Committee, where under the Rural Development title, we support facilities like nursing homes and rehabilitation centers and hospitals and provide communities reasonable funding to be able to address that need.

This is a problem. It is a multidimensional problem that requires multidimensional solutions. I think that the formation of this caucus is one of the first best starts to address this.

This bipartisan group will bring awareness to these unique challenges, to other members, and actively work to find solutions to these problems.

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