John,

When you represent rural communities, some votes transcend politics. 

When the Affordable Care Act came up for a vote years ago, it was clear that without federal support, our rural hospitals would close their doors, leaving families with nowhere to turn in emergencies. At that time, Congressman Bart Stupak, facing immense pressure and skepticism back home, voted yes because it was the right thing to do. 

And you know what? It worked. The ACA kept our hospitals open. And when Republicans and Democrats in the Michigan Legislature saw what federal healthcare support could do for rural communities, they came together to expand Medicaid. Conservative Republicans voted alongside liberal Democrats because they understood something bigger than partisan politics: when your neighbor’s life is on the line, you do what’s right.

That was normal then. Republicans and Democrats disagreeing on plenty, but finding common ground when it came to keeping hospitals open across the forests and farmland of northern Michigan and the U.P.

Fast forward to today.

Jack Bergman had the option to stand up for our hospitals. He chose differently. 

When the "Big Beautiful Bill" came up for a vote, a bill that will gut the very Medicaid funding that keeps our Critical Access Hospitals alive, the same funding Congressman Stupak fought for, the same funding Republicans and Democrats in Lansing expanded together because it saves lives:

Jack Bergman voted to cut that funding. 

His party leadership expected him to fall in line, and so he did. At the expense of us. 

The result? The CEO of Michigan’s Health & Hospital Association warns these cuts could force hospitals to close “entire facilities.” We’ve already seen this nightmare in Ontonagon - families driving over an hour for emergency care because there’s literally nowhere closer to go. We see it with pregnant women now having to drive hours for labor and delivery services due to closures in Tawas and Ironwood. 

Here’s what Jack Bergman doesn’t understand: when a Critical Access Hospital closes, there is no Plan B. These hospitals exist because they’re the absolute minimum needed to serve rural communities. When they’re gone, they’re gone.

The "Big Beautiful Bill" will cost Michigan hospitals $6 billion over ten years. Rural hospitals operating on razor-thin margins don’t survive cuts like this. They just close. Overnight. Like Ontonagon’s hospital in the Upper Peninsula. Or like the labor and delivery services ending in Ironwood. 

But here’s what gives me hope: the spirit that brought Republicans and Democrats together to expand Medicaid in Michigan isn’t dead. The understanding that healthcare transcends politics isn’t gone. 

We just need leaders who know what doing the right thing looks like.

I’m running to be that leader. I’ll bring back the kind of representation that puts community over party, that fights for what’s right, even when it’s hard.

Will you help me get to Congress so I can stand up for our hospitals?

Every contribution helps us compete with the special interest money that’s keeping Jack Bergman in office. Every dollar helps us remind voters that we used to have leaders who chose courage over convenience.

Let’s prove that the spirit of putting people before politics isn’t just history.

Let’s make it our future.

Thank you,

Callie Barr

Candidate for Congress, MI-01

Paid for by Callie for Congress

PO Box 6921 Traverse City, MI 49696

[email protected]

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