Meet A Rural Doctor Already Seeing the Impacts of Trump’s Budget

“Rural hospitals are infrastructure that all of us depend on.”

I recently spoke with Dr. Jill McMullen, a rural health care provider in western Wisconsin. Over the course of her 30-year career - beginning in the Navy and continuing through her work today - she’s seen firsthand how decisions made in Washington directly affect the fragile health systems that so many communities depend on.

Rural hospitals are, of course, essential to the communities they serve - and Dr. Jill made an important point that they’re also part of a broader, critical infrastructure that connects all Americans. Any one of us, or someone we love, could come to rely on them in an unexpected moment or emergency. When these hospitals are forced to cut services or shut down, it’s not just a local issue. It makes all of us less healthy and safe.

The reality is that Trump’s budget passed Congress and he signed it into law. But now we all have a role to play as citizens - to hold those who voted for this cruel and harmful bill politically accountable, and to lay the groundwork to deliver something better. It’s not too late to take action that would improve health care delivery, and secure enough funding to prevent clinics and hospitals from closing their doors in this decade.

You may have followed this issue closely, as I have. But many people in our lives have tuned out the political debates of our time, out of frustration or fatigue or just skepticism that any of this matters to them. We can do something about that too - and it’s why I want to keep having conversations like this. The best way to cut through the headlines and bring the statistics to life is to share the real, human stories that show what’s truly at stake.

I’m grateful to Dr. Jill for taking the time to talk with me and share what she’s seeing on the ground. I hope you find the conversation as informative as I did - and as always, please leave a comment below to join in.