[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 147 (Tuesday, November 29, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: November 29, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                   THE OAKLAND PARK OUTPATIENT CLINIC

                                 ______


                         HON. E. CLAY SHAW, JR.

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994

  Mr. SHAW. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic in Oakland Park, FL. The clinic, 
which will celebrate its 13th anniversary this year, is a rare and 
excellent example of what truly works in the largest health care 
delivery system in the United States.
  The DVA receives a lot of bad press, some of it well deserved, but as 
a legislator I would urge the media to peek into the way the Oakland 
Park clinic delivers its message and its health care. When the clinic 
opened in 1982, its chief administrator, Dr. Sumner Fredd, developed a 
consumer affairs group comprised of the chapter and post commanders of 
the service organizations. For 13 years he has continued to meet with 
this council monthly to discuss personnel changes and shortages, 
clinical trends, and other subjects his veteran consumers with to 
discuss. Dr. Fredd is responsible and accessible and, thanks in large 
part to his leadership, the system actually bends to accommodate those 
who do not fit into the rigid divisions bureaucracy tends to create. 
The commitment to veterans exhibited by the employees of the clinic 
symbolizes all that is good about the DVA.
  Today I rise to do my part in getting the DVA some good publicity. 
Four words: The Oakland Park outpatient clinic.

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