Letter to the editor: Vote to make Pa. more welcoming

I am a local physician who has been practicing in Greensburg and Latrobe since 2009. I would like to point out that some of my physician colleagues are not white. Some are not Christian. Some are immigrants. And they are the kindest, most caring and most morally upstanding people you would ever want to meet. I have seen many excellent physicians leave the area over the years, and I know that it is very difficult to recruit new talent.

I am left to wonder if my colleagues would have stayed if our community had been more welcoming, if they had not faced racist comments at restaurants, if their children had not been teased in school because they don’t celebrate Christmas or if they were not afraid to let mothers go to the grocery store wearing hijabs.

I want to retain the talented physician pool we now have, and I would love to recruit more physicians to Westmoreland County. Already, patients have to wait months to see a neurologist. Already, we have no local rheumatologists. Already, we have a severe shortage of psychiatrists.

When you are voting this November, please consider this: Which candidate is going to help Pennsylvania recruit talented professionals, regardless of race, religion or country of origin? Which candidate will drive them away? For the health of our community, please vote wisely.

Dr. Marti Haykin

Unity