Virginia's new Speaker of the House is not wasting any time to put his stamp on the General Assembly.
Delegate Don Scott may be from the city of Portsmouth, but now that he's become Speaker of the House, he says it's time to improve rural healthcare across Virginia. That's why he's putting together a new committee to take a look at the issue and come up with strategies. Delegate Mark Sickles is a Democrat from Fairfax County who says improving rural healthcare will require money.
"Serious mental illness and substance abuse and attacking fentanyl; those things affect rural Virginia slightly out of proportion to their numbers in the population," says Sickles. "And so, we are working on that in this budget this year to try to get more universal community services."
Delegate Bobby Orrock is a Republican from Caroline County who says he appreciates the speaker's focus on the issue, and he's eager to start crafting solutions.
"One of the things personally I think we've got to try to do is enable our EMS providers to provide more on-the-scene services without having to transport to a more intensive medical facility for some rather routine treatments and medications," Orrock says.
The committee will begin meeting formally in May, although members say they won't wait until then to fight for mental health funding in the budget lawmakers are expected to adopt before leaving town in March.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
