Forget fracking – rural Pennsylvanians want to hear about health care | Opinion

As a Democratic congressional candidate in rural Pennsylvania, I followed the recent presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump with great interest and concern.

In 2020, Pennsylvania received more attention than any other state in the presidential race, and that focus has only increased in 2024. The state leads the nation in campaign visits, advertising, fieldwork, and spending. Yet during the debate in Philadelphia last week, my state was discussed only in the context of its fracking industry.

This narrow focus on fracking has long dominated presidential campaigns in Pennsylvania. Campaign consultants seem to believe that Pennsylvanians only care about natural gas, but that is far from the reality. After speaking to voters in rural Pennsylvania for over a year, I have been asked about fracking exactly once – during a Chamber of Commerce meeting.

The issue that comes up far more often is rural hospital closures. The district I represent is one of the most rural in the country. Although it is home to only 5 percent of Pennsylvania’s residents, it has seen 12 percent of the state’s hospital closures over the past two decades.

The impact on my community has been devastating. When a hospital in Elk County closed earlier this year, thousands of people lost access to obstetric care. Currently, rural Pennsylvania has five times fewer gynecologists per birth than urban areas. A decade ago, that ratio was about two to one.

To make matters worse, two key federal programs — the Medicare Dependent Hospital Subsidy and the Low-Volume Hospital Adjustment — are set to expire at the end of this year. Without congressional action, three Medicare-dependent hospitals in my district will lose critical funding. Senator Bob Casey’s (Democrat, Pennsylvania) Rural Hospital Support Act is designed to make these programs permanent, but no vote is expected before the election.

Hospital mergers are also threatening access to health care in rural communities. Private equity firms have been closing hospitals across the state and shifting their resources to wealthier urban areas. Although lawmakers from both parties are working together to curb this trend, Washington is silent.

Rural health care in Pennsylvania and across the country is on the verge of collapse, yet neither Kamala Harris nor Donald Trump have addressed this crisis or offered solutions to fix it.

Both campaigns know that every vote counts in Pennsylvania.

Vice President Harris visited Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a rural town of 18,000, on Friday, less than two weeks after former President Trump held a rally there. Yet in her anti-Trump speech, she made little mention of the Commonwealth or the issues facing our people and communities.

As a Democratic standard-bearer in rural central Pennsylvania, I have a humble piece of advice for my party’s candidate: During future visits, talk less about Trump and fracking and more about hospitals and health care.

Democrats cannot afford to ignore electoral reality. In 2020, President Joe Biden came close to matching former President Barack Obama’s results in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, but trailed him by double digits in rural counties. If that trend continues on Nov. 5, there won’t be enough votes left in the state’s largest cities to make up the differences in the most rural areas.

This election will be won by the candidate who addresses the real issues facing rural Pennsylvania. Right now, that issue is health care – not fracking.

Zach Womer is the Democratic candidate for Congress in Pennsylvania’s 15th district.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author.