LEWISTON — In the wake of a pandemic that has made living in rural Maine seem more attractive than ever, state House Speaker Sara Gideon is pushing to address two major issues that threaten to hold back progress in the Pine Tree State.

Gideon, a Freeport Democrat who is running for the U.S. Senate, said during a campaign stop Tuesday in Lewiston the nation must do more to bolster rural health care and to put more resources into making broadband widely available.

Both, she said, will help lure more people to Maine and address a growing workforce shortage that threatens the state’s economy.

Gideon is locked in one of the closest, hardest-hitting political races in the country, as she tries to unseat four-term U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican who also calls herself a champion for rural Maine. Also in the contest are two independents: Lisa Savage of Solon and Max Linn of Bar Harbor.

During Gideon’s campaign stop at Central Maine Medical Center, she heard from a number of hospital administrators from Lewiston and western Maine who offered detailed ideas for improving access to care with reliable federal help.

Jeffrey Brickman, chief executive officer of Central Maine Healthcare, told her the hospital network is trying “to shake up the status quo” in a bid to offer cheaper and more widely available care.

He said that in Maine, one of the key obstacles to improved health care is that people have to cope with such high cost deductible insurance plans that they avoid treatment.

Dr. Michael Stadnicki, chief of primary care at CMMC, said that finding ways to encourage people to get screenings early such as a colonoscopy or going to a dietian can save big money later when patients avoid morbid obesity or colon cancer.

“It’s much cheaper to prevent than to treat,” he said.

Gideon on Tuesday released a plan to overhaul the system by offering a public option, capping prescription drug prices for seniors, allowing Medicare to negotiate drugs prices and expand family and medical leave.

Collins’ campaign almost immediately denounced it as seeking to have “the government to run health care” and paying for it by raising taxes, though a public option would leave private health  insurance firmly in place. The GOP campaign also said Gideon’s plan would increase pressure on rural hospitals instead of helping them.

Savage is a strong backer of Medicare For All, arguing “we must expand Medicare so that anyone in the United States can obtain health care whenever they need it, without fear of bankruptcy or massive expenditures.”

Linn’s campaign issued a flyers early in the year fretting about an alleged globalist program to control health care, but he has not yet discussed the issue in any detail.

Gideon said she wants to promote telemedicine, which may help rural areas in particular.

For telemedicine to prosper, though, Maine needs better broadband access in rural areas, many of which have no access or only the slimmest excuse for coverage.

Gideon said the federal government needs to address the issue the same way it did with rural electrification during the New Deal, bringing power to the nation’s nooks and crannies.

Collins has endorsed much more federal spending on rural broadband and has also expressed strong support for increasing the use and availability of telemedicine.

Hospital executives said one of the issues that is routinely troubling them is recruiting nurses and doctors, who are sometimes wary of coming to Maine.

They said they could use more help securing visas for professionals from other lands and licenses for their counterparts in other states, who can run into roadblocks getting a green light to practice in Maine.

“It’s a real barrier,” Dr. Jason Krupp, president of the Central Maine Medical Group, said.

Gideon called it an “incredibly important issue” that ought to be dealt with on the federal level so that medical providers can move between states more easily.

It’s one of many issues, she said, laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. John Alexander, the chief medical officer at CMMC, said the health care system also needs to recruit more New Mainers into a setting that is almost entirely white.

“There’s a lack of trust and a lack of resources available to them,” Alexander said, urging progress on both to make sure the immigrant community in Maine gets the care needed.

Alexander said as well that keeping Mainers healthy goes beyond getting them more medical attention.

To ensure better health, he said, it’s also important to make sure that people have safe sidewalks so they can get out and exercise and access to good, nutritious food.

Gideon said she agreed that social issues are important to address if people want to see better health across the board.

U.S. Senate candidate Sara Gideon asks a question related to high-quality, affordable health care during a visit to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston on Tuesday. Central Maine Healthcare President and CEO Jeff Brickman is at left. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

U.S. Senate candidate Sara Gideon and Central Maine Healthcare President and CEO Jeff Brickman have a conversation at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston on Tuesday about high-quality, affordable health care. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal Buy this Photo

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