[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 74 (Tuesday, June 14, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: June 14, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
COPING WITH AIDS--NATIONAL RECOGNITION OF AN ANSWER AT ST. MARY MEDICAL 
                                 CENTER

                                 ______


                           HON. STEPHEN HORN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 14, 1994

  Mr. HORN. Mr. Speaker, the social stigma of the horrible disease 
known as AIDS creates an additional pain that its sufferers must 
regrettably bear--being ostracized by friends, family, and community. 
Unlike patients who are terminally ill with other afflictions such as 
cancer, the AIDS patient frequently must suffer alone without support 
services and systems.
  Recognizing this, the St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach, CA, 
began an effort in 1986 to provide for the health, social, and daily 
living needs of AIDS patients. Now, after 8 years of helping AIDS 
patients cope with their disease, the Comprehensive AIDS Resource 
Education, or C.A.R.E., program at St. Mary has received the National 
recognition it so richly deserves. At a ceremony in Philadelphia last 
week, the Catholic Health Association bestowed its highest honor on St. 
Mary's C.A.R.E. program.
  The C.A.R.E. program is unique in the State of California. It has 
succeeded in cutting down both the length and number of hospital stays 
for AIDS patients. And of equal importance, the C.A.R.E. program has 
enlightened the community about the reality of AIDS as a disease. 
According to Carolyn Carter, a representative of the St. Mary Medical 
Center, when the program started, people were still leaving trays for 
AIDS patients outside their doors because they were afraid to touch 
them. Now, C.A.R.E. offers a buddy-training service that links people 
with AIDS to those who can help run errands and perform other tasks for 
them.
  In addition, the C.A.R.E. program provides free home health care for 
AIDS patients, as well as free psycho-social counseling, grief therapy 
and a medical clinic for all HIV-infected clients.
  AIDS sufferers deserve our compassion and support. Programs like 
C.A.R.E. do just that--and in the process, teach us about caring for 
others. That is why I rise today to hold up the C.A.R.E. program at St. 
Mary Medical Center which has been nationally recognized as a model for 
the rest of the Nation by the Catholic Health Association.

                          ____________________