WSKG: Rural hospitals are at risk of discontinuing services and/or closing. Guthrie and Centralus Health are among those with longstanding operations and facilities in the county. These health care providers are some of the largest employers in the county. How will you ensure the county maintains access to health care, senior care and nursing facilities as counties face staggering funding losses due to the OBBBA?
A: The county made the right move by bringing in an FQHC to Elmira. This is a positive example of federal money being used to provide health care. However, the federal government as a whole has failed us. The cuts to health care and throwing people off health insurance only assures that more Americans will die. The county is already obligated to pay millions in social services such as Medicaid, and I don’t know how we would make up for all the shortfalls that are being created. Health care should be considered a right and a public service.
I look at it this way. There are needs in our lives that we cannot manage without working collectively. If my house catches fire, I do not have the means to put the fire out myself. That’s why we collectively support each other to have local fire departments. If I get cancer, I do not have the means to get the treatments I need on my own. Some of us had been able to manage somewhat by cobbling together a variety of private, local, state or federal resources. But the federal government is now backing out of that partnership, and the effects will be devastating.
