HomeCare Close to Home and Telehealth

Care Close to Home and Telehealth

You have an established relationship with your primary care doctor - you shouldn't have to drive an hour to see someone different every time. And you should be able to do referral consults from the comfort of your living room, rather than driving an hour to Grand Rapids. Kiel supports these initiatives.

When you’re sick or your child has a fever at midnight, you shouldn’t have to drive 45 minutes to find care. Rural and small town communities in the 88th District face a healthcare crisis: shrinking local services, emergency rooms under pressure, and specialists an hour away. Families are forced to choose between getting care and missing work, finding childcare, or paying for gas they can’t afford.

Kiel knows what it’s like when healthcare isn’t accessible. He’s lived the reality of trying to balance work, family, and getting the care you need. As your state representative, he’ll fight to bring healthcare closer to home and expand the services that meet you where you are.

Kiel will:

Expand telehealth access so families can see doctors, specialists, and mental health providers from home without taking time off work or finding transportation. Telehealth saved lives during COVID; now we need to make it permanent and accessible for everyone.

Support rural health clinics and community health centers that provide affordable, local care for families who don’t have big hospital systems nearby. These clinics are lifelines for small towns. We need to strengthen them, not let them close.

Recruit and retain healthcare providers in underserved areas by expanding loan forgiveness programs for doctors, nurses, and mental health professionals who commit to practicing in communities like ours.

Protect emergency services by ensuring local hospitals have the resources they need to keep emergency rooms open and fully staffed, so no one dies waiting for an ambulance to drive them two counties over.

Improve broadband infrastructure because you can’t use telehealth if you don’t have reliable internet. Healthcare access in 2026 requires 21st-century technology reaching every corner of the district.