When You Need Care, You Shouldn’t Have to Drive an Hour to Get It

In too many parts of Northwest Illinois, basic health care is no longer local. Rural hospitals are closing. County nursing homes are being sold off. Clinics are understaffed. Families face long drives, long waits, and rising costs—just to get the care they used to receive in their own communities.

It’s not just inconvenient. It’s dangerous. And it’s a direct result of leadership that has failed to fight for rural families.

We need to restore access, lower costs, and make sure no one in District 45 is left behind.

The Problem: Rural Illinois Is Being Left Out of the Health System

Under the current political leadership:

• Several rural hospitals and urgent care centers have shuttered or cut hours

• County nursing homes are being sold off, leaving seniors with fewer safe, local options for long-term care

• Wait times for specialists can take weeks—or require out-of-county travel

• Mental health services are severely limited, especially for youth and veterans

• Insurance costs keep rising, even for those with employer coverage

• State health policies focus on urban priorities, ignoring rural delivery gaps

And while all this happens, politicians like Andrew Chesney stand by without offering a single solution.

Atkinson’s Plan: Access, Affordability, and Accountability

Joshua T. Atkinson has seen how rural health care can fail when no one fights for it—and how smart, community-focused leadership can bring services back.

1. Bring Health Care Back to Rural Towns

Josh will fight for targeted rural health funding that supports community hospitals, urgent care centers, and mobile health services. Whether it’s childbirth, cancer treatment, or a simple checkup—you shouldn’t have to drive across counties to receive care.

2. Expand Rural Mental Health Services

Mental health needs don’t disappear because a town is small. Josh will champion state funding for school counselors, veteran support services, and crisis intervention teams in rural communities.

3. Protect Access to Telehealth and Modernize Licensing

Josh will ensure that telehealth options are preserved and expanded for rural residents, and that state licensing makes it easier—not harder—for health professionals to serve in underserved areas.

4. Lower Costs Through Transparency and Competition

Josh will back reforms that demand pricing transparency from hospitals, insurers, and prescription providers. He’ll fight monopolies in rural regions that drive up costs with no accountability.

5. Support Community-Based Health Partnerships

Josh knows that real care happens closest to home. He’ll work to empower local health departments, schools, nonprofits, and rural clinics to receive direct state support—not get buried in red tape.

A Veteran’s Perspective on Health Care

“As a veteran, I’ve seen what it’s like to navigate a broken system. And as someone living in a rural community, I know how far too many people are falling through the cracks.

No one should have to choose between paying bills and getting care. No parent should have to drive 90 minutes for a specialist. And no veteran should be waiting weeks for mental health help.

I’m running to fix this—because our lives, our families, and our futures depend on it.”

— Joshua T. Atkinson

Let’s Bring Care Home

Rural Illinois deserves more than excuses. It deserves access to care, close to home—care that’s affordable, timely, and delivered with dignity.

Let’s fire the politician who has ignored this crisis—and send someone to Springfield who’s ready to fight for every life in District 45.

Take Action

Join our campaign to fix health care in rural Illinois.
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Together, we can restore access, protect our communities, and bring common sense back to state health policy.