[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 24 (Tuesday, February 7, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E283-E284]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      HONORING DR. LAURANCE NICKEY

                                 ______


                         HON. RONALD D. COLEMAN

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, February 7, 1995
  Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to applaud the efforts of a special 
leader in my home community of El Paso, TX. In fact, I am quite proud 
to commend the American Medical Association in its decision to award 
the 1994 Dr. Nathan Davis Awards to Dr. Laurance Nickey, who will be 
honored with the Career Public Servant Award at a special awards 
[[Page E284]] banquet tonight at the Mayflower Hotel. The Dr. Nathan 
Davis Awards are presented for outstanding contributions ``to promote 
the art and science of medicine and the betterment of the public 
health.''
  Dr. Laurance Nickey is the director of the El Paso City-County Health 
District and has long been proactive in promoting the public health of 
the entire southwestern border region. In fact, Dr. Nickey was the 
first to propose the idea of creating a United States-Mexico Border 
Health Commission, which was signed into law in October 1994. Dr. 
Nickey espoused the need to work collaboratively with health, officials 
of the Mexican side because of his true commitment to improving the 
health of residents all along the border.
  Dr. Nickey has a long and impressive history of service in El Paso, 
where he was raised. He founded a private pediatric practice there from 
1960 to 1983. Dr. Nickey's accomplishments can be found in both the 
legislative and community health arenas. Legislatively, Dr. Nickey was 
instrumental in securing legislation that prohibits insurance companies 
in Texas from discriminating against newborn babies during the first 
several weeks of life. Dr. Nickey's community successes include the 
1963 oral polio immunization program, which administered 800,000 doses 
of polio vaccine to El Pasoans, west Texans and southern New Mexicans. 
In 1965, Dr. Nickey was responsible for getting a tuberculosis control 
physician from the U.S. Public Health Service to come to El Paso, which 
led to the establishment of an excellent tuberculosis control unit to 
be operated by the Texas Department of Health through the El Paso City-
County Health District.
  More, recently, in 1990, Dr. Nickey launched the improved pregnancy 
outcome program [IPOP], which resulted in the increase of prenatal 
visits in El Paso from 420 to over 17,000. In fact, at Thomason General 
Hospital, our principal public hospital, the percentage of women that 
delivered without prenatal care fell from 40 percent to 11 percent. In 
August 1991, Dr. Nickey began the only local international task force 
on cholera along the southwestern border. This project encompassed 
widespread community involvement. These are but a few. Dr. Nickey's 
list of accomplishments is impressive and endless.
  I know that I share the appreciation and admiration of all El Pasoans 
when I say, thank you, Dr. Nickey, for your tireless and selfless 
efforts toward improving the health of all Americans.


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