U.S. Rep. for Georgia’s First District Buddy Carter visited Coastal Manor in Ludowici July 26 to meet with its residents and staff.

Carter, a pharmacist, worked with Coastal Manor in the past, and during his tour he met with some staff who he had worked with.

“So I have very fond memories. I know a lot of these staff members. And I can tell you this is one of the finest facilities in the South Georgia,” he said. “They do an outstanding job here and they give great customer service, great customer care, take care of their patients.”

“And they really care here. And it’s a very special place, a very special place to me.”

One of the programs Carter learned about during his tour was the new adult day care center.

“And this is something that was not here when I was here and it’s a great addition to the community,” he said. “Something that the community has needed for a long time and Coastal Manor has been able to answer that need and now we have this great facility.”

The representative said it was good to visit with the patients because they “deserve our attention and they deserve our care.”

Carter said facilities like Coastal Manor are important in the community because so many seniors need their services.

“And otherwise if we didn’t have them here, they’d have to travel far distances in order to get those services,” he said. “So having them right here in the community helps the families out so much and it’s just a true blessing.”

Carter said that he has learned about how much the community has supported the adult day care center and during his visit he also wanted to hear from the residents of Coastal Manor.  

“They have needs just like younger people have needs and that’s what we need to hear and that’s what we want to work on,” he said. “Those are the kind of things that we want to work on in Washington, D.C.”

“I’ve talked to a number of them,” Carter said. “We’ve discussed some Medicare issues, we’ve discussed some, you know, anything from passports to Medicare to Medicaid and all of those issues are very important to them.”

From what he has learned during his tour, Carter said he hopes to take the issues back to Washington to work on, especially concerning Medicare.

“Those are the type of things that I want to carry back with me and have the ability, if I have questions when I’m in Washington, to be able to call back and to get the input of the staff here and particularly of the residents here,” he said.

Congress is currently in recess for summer break and Carter is using this time to host town hall meetings in the district.

“We’re going to have seven town hall meetings in the district in four days, so we’re going to be very busy, but I’m very excited about it,” he said. “We’re going to be talking about what’s been referred to as ‘A Better Way.’ It’s a group of initiatives that we’ve come up with in the House to help set the legislative agenda for the next Congress.”

For more information on his town halls, visit buddycarter.house.gov/betterwaytownhalls.

Area town hall meetings

Rep. Buddy Carter’s remaining Better Way forums include:

Bryan County Town Hall
10 a.m. today
Bryan County Administration Building
66 Captain Matthew Freeman Drive
Richmond Hill

Wayne County Town Hall
10 a.m. Thursday
Coastal Pines Technical College
1777 West Cherry Street
Jesup