[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]

 
      SALUTE TO THE HARDEST WORKING VA CLINIC IN THE UNITED STATES

                                 ______


                         HON. CHARLES N. WILSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, November 29, 1994

  Mr. WILSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share with you and with my 
colleagues a success story that began in Lufkin, TX, on March 23, 1991. 
It is the miracle of the Lufkin Veterans Outpatient Clinic, the hardest 
working veterans' clinic in the country.
  Our clinic is a miracle because at the start we were told by planning 
experts that it was not needed in our area.
  It is a miracle because once we proved that assumption wrong, we were 
told by those experts that the clinic would only have about 15,000 
patient visits annually and never more than 25,000 and that many only 
after several years of operation.
  It is a miracle because in the first year of operation, and staffed 
only to handle those experts' estimate of patients, the Lufkin Veterans 
Outpatient Clinic handled almost 31,000 visits by east Texas veterans.
  And it is a miracle because today, half-way through its fourth year 
of operation, the Lufkin clinic is up to nearly 40,000 patient visits 
annually. Our clinic is treating a percentage of the eligible veterans 
in the area that is more than double the national average for use of 
veterans medical care facilities.
  This was accomplished through the tenacity of many, many people. In 
the beginning it was the community leaders who fought with me to get 
the clinic for Lufkin. However, we just laid the groundwork for a 
clinic medical staff that has put in the overtime, shown the dedication 
and made the commitment to keep up with the demand on their services. 
Anyone who harbors a notion that Federal employees never work hard 
should pay a visit to our Lufkin Veterans Clinic.
  Their work continues with all energy focused on the medical needs of 
east Texas veterans. The miracle also continues for the tens of 
thousands of veterans who otherwise might not have the care that they 
need without a long, and for some impossible, drive.
  I ask that you join with me in praising the people who have made the 
Lufkin Veterans Outpatient Clinic the most successful, hardest working 
veterans' clinic in the United States: its doctors, nurses, and medical 
technicians--the administrative staff--the volunteers. This is an 
example of how the system can and should work for our communities, our 
citizens, and our veterans.

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