“A Very Serious Problem”: Mental Health Crisis in Rural Pennsylvania Gets a Public Hearing
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Asia Tabb
Aired; April 14th, 2025.
During a recent public hearing hosted by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, lawmakers, mental health professionals, and advocates came together to examine the escalating mental health crisis in the Commonwealth’s rural communities. The hearing, which featured testimony from experts and those with lived experience, laid bare the complex web of challenges facing rural Pennsylvanians—from a lack of providers to geographic isolation and the heavy toll of stigma.
“We just thought it was an appropriate time to start bringing some of those challenges to the forefront,” said Senator Gene Yaw, Chairman of the Center’s Board of Directors. “We’re not trying to make policy. What we try to do is say: here’s what’s going on in Pennsylvania. Here’s where the problems are.”
Yaw, who helped lead similar efforts around the opioid crisis over a decade ago, believes the same kind of attention and collaborative effort is now urgently needed for mental health. “Especially in rural Pennsylvania, the problems are compounded—lack of services, distance involved… it’s glaring,” he said.
Dr. Nancy Falvo, a healthcare advocate and the Center’s Board Secretary, described a chilling evolution in the mental health landscape over her years of practice.
“Years ago, a lot of people would say, ‘Oh, today I’m sad,’” she said. “Today, you’re hearing those same individuals saying, ‘I have thoughts of hurting myself.’ The degree of the mental illness has increased.”
Falvo noted a shift not only in the number of people struggling, but also in age range—with children as young as four or five showing signs of mental illness. Social media, she said, has played a significant role. “There’s a challenge with students—‘I can be worse than you can be, and I can hurt you more than you can hurt yourself.’ That has changed dramatically.”
Kyle Kopko, Executive Director of the Center, painted a stark picture of workforce shortages in rural mental health services.
“On average, there are just fewer providers—counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists,” Kopko said. “It’s an across-the-board problem.” One major cause? A lack of training opportunities in rural areas. “Right now, there’s no medical school in a rural setting,” he noted. “That’s a huge disparity in workforce pipeline development.”
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