Rep. Wendi Thomas — whose 178th District encompasses Northampton, Upper Makefield, Solebury, Wrightstown and New Hope — will retire at the end of her term. Samantha Bambino covered the representative’s exit for the Lower Bucks Times.

Thomas never set out to be a politician. Her career path included health insurance and healthcare advocacy.

But the retirement of her predecessor opened her eyes to the possibility of public service. “When the opportunity got presented, it was a chance to bring together professional life and a desire to try to make the world a better place into one thing,” she said.

Among her achievements, she’s reportedly proud of her work to expand the PACENET program, which offers prescription assistance to the elderly. She also cites the Healthcare Heroes bill, which connects pandemic-stressed healthcare workers with mental health services.

Future plans include R&R, perhaps somewhere with winters less harsh than Bucks County’s.

“My husband talked about spending some time in warmer weather, not where we get 12 inches of snow on a weekend. You really can’t do that in this position.

“It was more or less a family decision of, ‘It’s time to do this,’” she concluded.

More on Rep. Wendi Thomas is at the Lower Bucks Times.