U.S. Rep. Joe Pitts, who was criticized for holding a teleconference on health care reform instead of meeting with a skeptical public, has scheduled a town-hall meeting here Thursday night.

The forum will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Conestoga Valley High School, 2110 Horseshoe Road.

Through a spokesman, the Republican lawmaker said he decided to hold the meeting because he has "been hearing from constituents through phone calls, e-mails and in meetings that they wanted a forum to discuss health care sooner rather than later."

Pitts said, "I want to be responsive to my constituents so that I can take their message to Washington."

Pitts, who will seek re-election in 2010, held his teleconference earlier this month, but the move was criticized by Republicans and Democrats alike who faulted the congressman for not meeting the public face to face.

Pitts' teleconference prompted Lois Herr, a Democrat who will try to unseat the congressman next year, earlier this week to call her own face-to-face meetings. Herr's forum on health care is set for 2 p.m. Sept. 12 at the Lancaster Public Library, 125 N. Duke St.

Similar town-hall meetings held by members of congress have been flooded with opponents of President Barack Obama's health care reform proposals. Many of the meetings have been raucous affairs, with angry critics booing and shouting down politicians.

Still, Thursday's town hall here isn't likely to be that rowdy — mainly because Pitts opposes much of the Obama plan.

Sally Vanderslice, a former member of the Republican Committee from Manheim Township who criticized Pitts' teleconference, applauded the congressman for agreeing to meet with the public.

"It's never too late. They're still on their vacation, and I think it's definitely a must for our congressman to call a town meeting," she said. "Then you can, in a respectable way, find out some answers. I'm sure he's read this document, and I would like to know what's true and what isn't."

Pitts has met privately with several groups such as the Knights of Columbus, Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce, but Thursday's meeting will be his first open-invitation forum on health care.

Herr has invited Pitts to attend her meetings.

"I am eager to hear what the people have to say and will be there to listen, not lecture. Health care reform is a critical issue for our country, and it would be a shame if the voices of the 16th District were not heard in the debate," Herr said in announcing the forum earlier this week.

"And we certainly hope that Congressman Pitts gets over his fear of his constituents and joins us."

Herr intends to hold similar events in Kennett Square, Reading, Ephrata, and West Chester, all of which are in the 16th district.

E-mail: tmurse@lnpnews.com