A new House of Delegates committee will explore the lack of access to health care in rural Virginia.
The 12-member select committee, announced Thursday by newly elected House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, is set to convene May 1 and complete its work by Nov. 15, with at least five recommendations for the 2025 legislative session.
The panel will be chaired by Del. Rodney Willett, D-Henrico County, and other members include Dels. Israel O’Quinn, R-Washington County; Ellen Campbell, R-Rockbridge County; and Danny Marshall, R-Danville.
“For the first time in generations, life expectancy in the United States has decreased,” Scott said in a statement Thursday. “This is acute in our rural communities where suicide, overdose deaths, and diabetes are on the rise. As we endeavor to live by our oath to serve the people of Virginia, it is critical that we address this matter with the urgency it deserves. I know Delegate Rodney Willett will get the job done.”
Scott, who was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2019, is no stranger to the challenges affecting rural America. He grew up in Jasper, a town of 7,000 in Deep East Texas about 40 miles west of the Louisiana state line, and he graduated from Texas A&M University with a major in agriculture.
In a recent interview with Cardinal News, he emphasized taking pride in his rural roots, and since his arrival in the legislature he has forged warm friendships with Republican lawmakers from rural Southwest Virginia, including Sen. Travis Hackworth, R-Tazewell County, and Del. Terry Austin, R-Botetourt County.
Just last month, Scott and his wife spent several days with Hackworth and his family in Southwest Virginia, hiking the Spearhead Trails and touring local sites, including the Tazewell County Courthouse, Dominion Energy’s Virginia City Hybrid Energy Center in St. Paul, the town of Pocahontas and the Pocahontas Exhibition Mine.
Willett, the committee’s chair, said in a statement that he was grateful for the opportunity “to lead this much needed committee,” and for the speaker’s confidence.
“We know that the challenges rural folks face are unique,” Willett said. “They often must travel great distances to access adequate healthcare. Telehealth, which serves as an alternative to many and grew in accessibility for most during the COVID-19 pandemic, is still inaccessible in some areas due to a lack of high-speed broadband. It is my hope that the select committee can make recommendations to address these issues in the next legislative session.”
And Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax, the chair of the House Health and Human Services Committee, said that access to health care in rural Virginia is an issue that affects every corner of the commonwealth. “I’m confident that together with the rest of the committee, we will find tangible ways to make healthcare more accessible,” Sickles said.
