While most of the focus for the race for the District 40 Tennessee House of Representative seat has been on the GOP side, the lone Democratic candidate is stepping up and asking for support as well. DeKalb resident Dr. Tom Cook is the lone Democrat in the race, and says healthcare is his main priority if elected.
“I decided to run because I have a passion for healthcare,” Dr. Cook said. “I’ve been a nurse practitioner for 40 years. I’ve taught community health and practiced in community health areas also for 40 years. I just have this passion within me, and I have the time to do it, so I thought I’d run.”
Dr. Cook said that he wants to rethink rural health. “There have been 16 hospitals since 2008 that have closed in Tennessee. Building hospitals, which some have suggested, is just a huge money pit and it doesn’t guarantee anything in regards to how you are going to staff it. If you’ve followed any of the hospitals that have closed, that would be the truth for each of them.”
“One solution would be opening more rural clinics, as well as opening space for occupational therapy, maybe even opening dental services. All those things are needs that we all have, and the rural parts of our communities need access to them,” Dr. Cook continued.
“I’m also in favor of expanded band width. If we are going to practice with telemedicine, or you need to bring in information for instance as it relates to jobs and education, people need access to the internet.”
Dr. Cook said that he wouldn’t want to try to fix what is not broken, but wants to help those in need. “My district would include parts of Jackson, Cannon, Smith, DeKalb, and Wilson, and whatever is working I wouldn’t want to disturb, but in areas where there are not health services, I would want to assess what’s there already, and if there isn’t anything, let’s look at alternatives like clinics.”
Dr. Cook said that there are other important issues that he supports. “A woman’s right to choose is something I feel is very important, and I would support financial aid for a woman to travel out of state if needed.”
“I support safer gun laws, and don’t want to see children killed, or people in churches killed. What we have isn’t working. I don’t want to take away guns, but make owning guns safer. We also need more access to mental health. I also support veterans and active military. I think diversity is a good thing and I really want to be there for all people who live in Tennessee.”
Cook is originally from New Jersey, but now calls Silver Point his home. “I went to college in Chicago, then in Missouri, and finished my PHD at Vanderbilt. I also taught at Yale, but didn’t stay. While I was at Vanderbilt, I found Silver Point, which isn’t that far from Nashville.”
“I want the people of DeKalb County to know who I am and what I stand for. I hope people will come out of August 4, and during early voting, and vote for me for State Representative.”
