The Oskaloosa Herald | By Jeff Wilford

OSKALOOSA — Christina Bohannan, a Democrat who is running to unseat incumbent Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks in Iowa’s 1st Congressional District, stopped here Tuesday to hear about the state of mental health care.

Overwhelmed and under-resourced was the answer.

Bohannan’s visit was part of a five-stop tour organized by the Rural Restoration Project. She met with Lance Roorda, a licensed social worker and the founder of Eunoia Counseling.

Roorda said the Oskaloosa area has been underserved by therapists since Mahaska Health closed its behavioral health department in 2019. Roorda, who was a therapist there at the time, created Eunoia. Other therapists scattered elsewhere.

Roorda also complained about the rates at which private insurers reimburse his practice for counseling services. A scarcity of inpatient psychiatric beds also leaves many patients without adequate treatment options.

Iowa ranks at or near dead last in the country for inpatient psychiatric beds per capita, Bohannan said. That means many people who should get inpatient care have to rely on outpatient care, but insurance companies limit how much outpatient treatment they’ll pay for per patient, Roorda said.

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Iowa’s 1st Congressional District contains the cities of Davenport, Iowa City, Burlington, and Indianola. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks faces a rematch against Christina Bohannan, who came within 0.2% of defeating the incumbent in 2024. Bohannan lost by just 799 votes out of 413,000 and outperformed the top of the ticket by over 8 points – more than any other Red-to-Blue candidate in the country. National forecasters, including the Cook Political Report, universally rate this district as a Toss-Up for 2026. With Rep. Miller-Meeks showing historic weakness at just 31% favorability and facing growing opposition even within her own party, Bohannan has the best opportunity to flip a Republican seat in the country.