Dave Ward Will Fight to Keep Healthcare Affordable and Accessible for Every Family in District 24

Seven clinics. Thousands of patients. One candidate who will stand up for them.

Healthcare shouldn't be a luxury. For too many families in District 24, affordable, accessible medical care is already hard to come by — and Dave Ward believes it's the job of their state senator to protect it, not to make it harder to find.

That's why Ward is drawing a clear contrast in this race. While his opponent Harper Gordon has championed a hospital merger and acquisition strategy that would shut down seven low-cost clinics operated by EVMS and ODU throughout the community, Dave Ward is saying enough is enough. These aren't abstract facilities on a spreadsheet. They are the places real families in this district go when they need care — clinics that serve working people, seniors, and those without the means to navigate a sprawling hospital system.

Closing them is not progress. It's abandonment.

"When you shut down seven community clinics, you don't just close buildings — you cut off people's access to care," Ward said. "Families who relied on those clinics don't disappear. They end up in emergency rooms, they delay treatment, or they go without. That's not acceptable, and I will fight against it in Richmond."

Ward's vision for healthcare in District 24 starts with the belief that cost and proximity should never be the reason someone doesn't see a doctor. He supports expanding access to low-cost and community-based care, protecting the clinics and providers that serve working families, and ensuring that decisions about healthcare in this region are made with patients — not just hospital boardrooms — in mind.

Dave Ward has spent over two decades helping families put down roots in this community. He has sat on the York County Planning Commission and watched how state and local decisions ripple through people's daily lives. He knows that a healthy community requires healthy people — and healthy people need healthcare they can actually afford and reach.

The choice in this race is straightforward. One candidate has worked to route patients away from affordable community clinics and toward a consolidated system that prioritizes revenue over access. The other has spent his career serving this community from the ground up and is committed to making sure every family in District 24 has a doctor they can afford to see.

That candidate is Dave Ward.