[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 11 (Tuesday, February 8, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: February 8, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                           CAROLYN C. ROBERTS

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, all of Vermont shared a proud moment on 
January 31, when Carolyn Roberts, president and chief executive officer 
of Copley Health System in Morrisville, VT, was sworn in as chair of 
the American Hospital Association's Board of Trustees. I can think of 
no person more qualified or better prepared to lead hospitals during 
this year of intense debate about how best to reform our Nation's 
health care system.
  Over the years, Carolyn has shared with me, her ideas on improving 
the way we deliver health care, particularly in rural areas, and I have 
come to rely on her expertise to guide me in health care issues. I 
always have been impressed that Carolyn never loses sight of what 
health care is all about--taking care of people.
  Recently, she testified at a hearing of my Judiciary Subcommittee on 
Technology and the Law on the information and privacy aspects of 
President Clinton's Health Security Act. I look forward to working with 
Carolyn on this and other issues central to the reform debate.
  Carolyn is my adviser and my friend. I wish her the very best in the 
coming year.
  Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the following description 
of Carolyn Roberts from the program for her investiture ceremony be 
printed in the Record.
  There being no objection, the information was ordered to be printed 
in the Record, as follows:

                          Investiture Program

       Presiding Officer, Larry L. Mathis, Speaker, House of 
     Delegates.
       Call to order Larry L. Mathis.
       Invocation, The Reverend Edward J. Mahoney, Ph.D., St. 
     Michael's College, Winooski, VT.
       Concert, University Choral Union and Jon Gailmor, 
     Burlington, VT, directed by James Chapman.
       Introduction of Officers of State Hospital Associations, 
     Larry L. Mathis.
       Investiture of Chair, Board of Trustees, Michael P. Guerin, 
     AHA Secretary.
       Chair's Inaugural Address, Carolyn C. Roberts.
       Reception, Honoring Chair, Carolyn C. Roberts, Crystal 
     Ballroom.
       Integrity, intelligence, intensity, these characteristics 
     only begin to capture the whirlwind of excitement and vibrant 
     energy that is Carolyn Roberts. A forceful and committed 
     health care leader with a deep devotion to health care needs 
     of communities, she is known and respected for her great 
     enthusiasm, dedication, and outside-the-lines thinking--a 
     combination that makes her the master of accomplishing the 
     nearly impossible.
       Her vision of health care reform is strongly patient- and 
     community-centered with a long-held commitment to 
     restructuring the delivery system.
       In Copley Hospital, Carolyn has fostered an institution 
     both innovative and warmly comforting, bolstered by her 
     foresight and farreaching strategic thinking. Set in somewhat 
     isolated northcentral Vermont and about 35 miles from 
     neighboring hospitals, 54-bed Copley Hospital under Carolyn's 
     leadership has become a model of collaboration. In addition 
     to forming a rural health consortium in the 1980s, Copley 
     Hospital has also led state-level initiatives on quality, 
     data, and ethics and has received numerous grants to study 
     opportunities to improve care in rural areas. In 1987, 
     Copley Hospital was co-winner of the prestigious Foster G. 
     McGaw Prize for its community services and innovation in 
     rural health care and housing for the elderly. Carolyn's 
     professional experience spans research and management in 
     urban teaching centers, giving her the knowledge and 
     insights to foster collaboration across the continuum.
       As one who understands that being a good listener is basic 
     to good leadership, Carolyn radiates caring and a profound 
     sense of valuing each person and each idea. Colleagues 
     respect her openness, acumen, and judgment on difficult 
     issues, as well as her natural leadership skills and sense of 
     humor. Carolyn was named the 1987 Health Care Executive of 
     the Year by the American Academy of Medical Administrators 
     and is also active in numerous other professional 
     organizations. Actively promoting leadership opportunities 
     for women, she is a founding member of Health Alliance and 
     long-term executive committee member of Women's Healthcare 
     Forum.
       In leisure time, she golfs, does needlework holds her own 
     in a season-long football pool with husband Ed Connors, and 
     regularly wins their perpetual cribbage competition. Her 
     office at Copley Hospital is crammed with black-and-white 
     spotted Holstein memorabilia, a tribute to Vermont's dairy 
     cows. Son Mark and wife Kaylee are close by in Morrisville, 
     with their two children, Cynthia, 6, and Sam, 5. Daughter 
     Deanna and her husband, Michael Hazeltine, live in Southboro, 
     Massachusetts, with 6-year-old Stephen and 4-year-old Erin. 
     Together, Carolyn and Ed have eleven grandchildren--a full 
     and sometimes hectic family life.
       Carolyn is a leader of many accomplishments, in Copley 
     Hospital, Vermont, and in the nation. And maybe one clue to 
     understanding her success can be found in her hopeless 
     addiction to cloud-watching. Carolyn is captured by the 
     swirls, colors, shapes, and textures of clouds. In clouds, as 
     in personal and professional life, Carolyn Roberts finds 
     hidden possibilities and sees broad and deep meanings. And in 
     life and health care, as in clouds, she finds excitement, 
     energy, and vision.

                          ____________________