Dr. Sydnee McElroy Speaks On Her Marketing campaign For WV’s Home Of Delegates – Hollywood Life

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Dr. Sydnee Smirl McElroy has all the time been “politically conscious” and lively in native organizations, however after she went to talk to her district’s Home of Delegates consultant Matthew Rohrbarch, a Republican, about her issues relating to a campus carry invoice that will enable college students to have firearms on the native Marshall College (in addition to different faculties all through the state), she reached her breaking level and determined to run for the twenty sixth District in West Virginia’s Home of Delegates herself as a Democrat within the midterm normal elections in November. “I received bored with my consultant, not returning my calls, not returning my emails, even once I went to see him face-to-face and speak with him on the Capitol, strolling away from me mid-conversation,” she advised HollywoodLife in an EXCLUSIVE interview.

Dr. McElroy, 39, approached Rohrbach, who can also be a physician, to specific her issues concerning the campus carry invoice as a member of his district. “The Marshall College group school, college students, [and] employees had been very a lot against this. The local people was very a lot against this. Other than numerous medical explanation why the campus wouldn’t be made safer by the presence of firearms, the associated fee to offer the safety when you’re going to permit firearms on campus would’ve bankrupted the college,” she defined. “I went as much as speak to him straight—doctor-to-doctor—to say now we have statistics and knowledge that inform us that placing firearms within the fingers of school college students—they’re at increased danger for abusing substances. They’re at increased danger for despair and suicidal ideation. This may very well be a tragedy that we’re creating.”

Relatively than having an open dialogue with Dr. McElroy, Rohrbach opted to finish the dialogue. “That was the dialog the place he simply walked away from me mid-conversation, turned his again and walked down the hallway, as a result of he disagreed,” she mentioned.

Dr. McElroy, who’s a household doctor, is now making her first run for public workplace, campaigning on main points affecting West Virginians, akin to healthcare. As a physician for over a decade, McElroy has utilized issues she’s realized in her time as a healthcare supplier to find out about what’s affecting the members of her district and sufferers. “I actually really feel like I perceive the issues and the wants of our group as a result of I’ve had that have as a household physician,” she mentioned.

“Folks don’t simply inform their household docs their medical issues,” she mentioned. “I’ve realized this: they inform all of them their issues. I knew the issues that individuals had been fearful about. I knew the opposite stressors, whether or not it’s looking for a job or attempting to pay their payments or as a result of they’ve a member of the family who has substance use dysfunction.”

Naturally, as a physician, McElroy has robust opinions and plans for higher healthcare in West Virginia if elected. She needs to work in direction of capping prescription drug costs as there are such a lot of members of the group who reside with “persistent sicknesses like diabetes and coronary heart illness and hypertension and COPD.” Along with decreasing the price of medicine, she says that there’s a physician scarcity, and he or she needs to draw extra docs to the Mountain State. “I feel we’re increase our group in order that we will make it the sort of place the place you wish to keep and be a physician,” she mentioned.

After all, healthcare isn’t the one situation that Dr. McElroy is seeking to tackle. Public schooling is a first-rate concern, and a part of how she needs to deal with the problems dealing with West Virginia colleges is by equally attracting and retaining lecturers. She spoke about wanting to supply lecturers aggressive salaries and higher advantages in order that they wouldn’t go away for surrounding states. “Academics are professionals and they need to be paid like they’re,” she mentioned.

McElroy additionally highlighted the numerous wants that college students have inside the classroom, as so many have been affected by the opioid disaster in West Virginia, in addition to throughout the nation. “They want entry to counseling providers and psychological well being providers and social staff,” she defined. “We should be supporting these households and these youngsters by, earlier than we trigger one other era of hurt, which is what we’re prone to doing if we don’t assist folks and meet their wants.”

Tackling these main points in West Virginia, Dr. McElroy is clearly able to battle for the wants of her district, and he or she’s keen about bringing main points to the Home of Delegates. She’s labored with Fairness West Virginia to attempt to move a Equity Act within the state, which might assure all West Virginians would have the identical rights. “This stuff should be introduced up each session we should be speaking about codifying rights for all folks no matter gender or sexual orientation,” she mentioned, whereas highlighting that West Virginia has the very best focus of transgender youth within the nation. “These younger folks inside our state are in search of their leaders, for his or her representatives, for folks in energy to speak about their proper to exist, their proper to be completely satisfied, their proper to get married their proper to have entry to the medicines or surgical procedures they might want if they need them, their proper to counseling, all these issues.”

Most of all, Dr. McElroy is extremely motivated to shine a lightweight on the problems that should be mentioned, whether or not she’s elected or not. “I’m hoping by operating [to] simply encourage different folks. Whenever you arise and say how you are feeling, you’ll be shocked [by] how many individuals will arise with you and say, ‘Really, I do too. And I’m actually glad you mentioned one thing. Let’s work collectively,’” she mentioned close to the top of our dialog.

Nationwide midterm elections are Tuesday, November 8. Learn how to register to vote here.