Keisha Lance Bottoms kicks off Southeast Georgia healthcare tour in Statesboro

STATESBORO, Ga. (WTOC) - Democratic Georgia governor candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms made her first stop in Statesboro Thursday as part of a Southeast Georgia healthcare tour, hosting a roundtable with local healthcare workers and the Statesboro mayor to hear concerns about rural healthcare access.

Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor and Democratic nominee for governor, said the feedback gathered during the tour will help shape policy.

“It’s always great to get feedback on the ground because it helps shape policy and helps shape the vision for how we can accomplish things quickly when, God willing, I’m elected governor,” Bottoms said.

Rural hospitals, transportation among top concerns

Statesboro Mayor Jonathan M. McCollar said the city serves as a regional hub for surrounding counties that lack basic healthcare services.

“We really act as a regional hub when it comes to health care,” McCollar said. “We’re surrounded by rural counties. Many of those counties do not have access to OBGYN.”

Attendee Krishna Nedidi said the strain on local facilities affects patients seeking immediate care.

“It is overloaded from other places that don’t have their systems,” Nedidi said. “So when someone here needs immediate care, they may have to just go somewhere else for it.”

Registered nurse Harry Baldwin said transportation remains one of the most significant barriers for patients.

“Transportation is an issue across the board for many of our patients, so being able to actually get to the care that they need is probably the very first step for a lot of our patients,” Baldwin said.

Bottoms supports Medicaid expansion

Bottoms said Medicaid expansion would be an immediate priority if elected.

“I do support Medicaid expansion in this state. It is a top priority and, God willing, when I am elected governor, I will immediately begin to prepare our state agencies to expand Medicaid,” Bottoms said.

Republican opponent responds

The campaign for Republican governor nominee Rick Jackson issued a statement in response to Bottoms’ tour, saying she cannot be trusted on healthcare. The campaign referenced her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as Atlanta mayor and stated, “The last thing rural Georgia needs is Atlanta politics imported and mixed with New York and California policies.”

KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS FAILED HER BIGGEST TEST ON HEALTHCARE, THEN SHE QUIT

-Wants to Import New York, California, and Atlanta 

Policies to Rural Georgia-

 As Keisha Lance Bottoms kicks off her rural healthcare tour today, Georgians should remember her actual record on healthcare when it mattered most. During COVID, Bottoms praised disgraced New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s approach, wanted to keep schools closed for longer, and fought Gov. Brian Kemp’s plan to reopen Georgia safely. “Keisha Lance Bottoms can’t be trusted on healthcare. While Rick Jackson was partnering with Gov. Brian Kemp to save lives during COVID, Keisha Lance Bottoms was failing Atlanta,” said Garrison Douglas, campaign spokesman for Rick Jackson. “And then she walked away while the city was still in crisis.” Keisha Lance Bottoms in her own words:

• “We had a really good example of a state that got it right. We could have followed the lead of New York.”
• “It’s too soon for schools to reopen.”
• “We opened up too soon. That’s the reality of it.”

She pushed to keep Georgia’s schools closed and insisted “we opened too soon,” even as families and small businesses struggled to get back on their feet. On her watch, more than 100 restaurant locations permanently closed. Then, with Atlanta still in crisis, she walked away from the job rather than face voters again. Now she’s campaigning alongside liberal California Gov. Gavin Newsom and asking rural Georgia to trust her with their hospitals and their healthcare. “The last thing rural Georgia needs is Atlanta politics imported and mixed with New York and California policies,” Douglas concluded.

Garrison Douglas

Bottoms plans to continue her healthcare tour with stops in Richmond Hill, Jesup, and Brunswick.