Georgia’s healthcare crisis is a Republican choice

I love living in Jackson County. My mother’s family has called the street I live on home for over

a hundred years, and the little graveyard at the Methodist church is the final resting place of

many of my ancestors. We have strong roots in this community and I’m proud to call it home.

But, I would love this county a lot more if it were represented by people who genuinely care

whether we live or die. We need representatives who believe that providing quality health care is

not a waste of time and money, whether or not we are part of the wealthy billionaire class in

Georgia.

Democrats have known for decades that funding for health, education, and infrastructure has a

positive return on investment. Healthy, educated people who can afford rent and groceries earn

more, produce more, require less public assistance, and yes, pay more in taxes to fund services

for the next generation. It's no secret how this works, but elected Republicans reject this idea.

Why is the GOP enacting policies that are shutting down hospitals all over the state, especially in

rural areas where they're needed most? They are taking their cues from the Criminal Leader in

DC, trying to mimic Trump’s budget cuts here in Georgia. It makes me extremely angry to

witness my neighbors lose access to healthcare just because Republicans want to line their

pockets. Every American deserves to live a life with dignity, but they think this is a privilege

reserved only for the ultra-wealthy. I disagree.

Northridge Medical Center in Commerce was a ninety-bed hospital that operated for decades,

before Republican lawmakers started stripping its funding, dollar by dollar, until it was forced to

shut down. It was the lone Hospital in all of Jackson County. Now, we have to drive to Athens –

for some, up to an hour away – for emergency care, even if they are having pregnancy

complications or bleeding out from some horrible accident. Think about that for a minute.

Emergency care, an hour away.

We've seen this play out in south Georgia, where a farmer whose tractor rolls over, who might

have been saved at the local hospital, can end up dying in transit instead. In red states around the

country, where a disaster or disease outbreak in a rural area overwhelms the nearby city hospital,

two populations are at risk since there are not enough beds, not enough doctors and not enough

nurses. Republicans lay off thousands of healthcare workers that save our lives in the name of

saving a few bucks.

Today, Barrow County’s sole hospital, Piedmont Winder, is one of over a dozen Georgia

hospitals at risk of complete closure right now–one more funding cut, and it's gone. It’s only a

matter of time now that Trump’s Big Billionaire Bill is headed toward the South like a cloud ofacid rain. Just this past month, the only hospital in Lavonia closed its labor and delivery unit.,

This doesn't sound to me like a pro-life policy, which they claim to be champions of. You can

understand how I am confused about their messaging - ‘cut all funding from mothers and babies’

but also ‘force mothers to have babies’. Under Republican leadership we have hospitals hanging

on by a thread, cutting intensive care units, OB/GYN clinics, and behavioral health services just

to keep the doors open. But what good is a hospital without the tools to care for people? None of

what Republicans are doing makes any sense unless you look at it through their lens of ‘only

wealthy families matter’, then it makes perfect sense.

In 2015, Athens Regional Hospital (now Piedmont) and St. Mary’s Hospital saw around 350,000

patient visits. A decade later, both hospitals are seeing up to 600,000 each year. Overworked

staff, longer waits, higher costs, lower emergency readiness — that's what we're getting here, so

don't be fooled into thinking that these Republican policies aren't going to hurt you too if your

hospital doesn't close. This is hurting 99% of us.

And we have to ask ourselves, where is all the money going now? Have the Republicans

announced some new project for people in Georgia to help the lower and middle classes with

their healthcare? Hell no, they haven’t! Just like their criminal counterparts in DC - they make

cut after cut to our social safety nets and public funding to offer tax breaks to the rich and

corporations. I say we need to Stop the Scam and bring our tax dollars back to actually helping

our communities. Otherwise, why are we paying taxes?

Republicans in Georgia hold a majority in the House and Senate, and sit in the Governor's

mansion. They could fix this budgeting issue at any time, but choose not to. And for all their talk

of being pro-business, somehow they haven't noticed that healthcare, education, houses families

can afford, and dependable services are all good for business. If they did, they would know that

when regular people are healthy, well-informed and walking around with some spending money

in their pockets, that's actually good for businesses in every corner of our state.

Dear God, this has to change. I am thinking of our children’s future, something the GOP clearly

doesn't care about at all. We can't have health care and education and housing for the wealthy,

and scraps for everybody else. It's unethical, it's immoral, and it doesn't work. It's high-time for a change of leadership.

Suzanna Karatassos