[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 190 (Thursday, November 30, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2273]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            CONNECTICUT HOSPICE HONORED ON 21ST ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______


                          HON. ROSA L. DeLAURO

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 30, 1995

  Ms. DeLAURO. Mr. Speaker, this Saturday, December 2, the Connecticut 
Hospice will celebrate its 21st anniversary with a holiday celebration, 
``Lumieres de Noel.'' It is with great pleasure that I rise today to 
salute this wonderful organization, and to thank all of its supporters 
for brightening the lives of terminally ill patients and their 
families.
  Twenty-one years ago, the Connecticut Hospice pioneered a new 
approach for treating terminally ill patients by addressing their 
emotional and spiritual needs in addition to their physical ones. The 
individuals who began the Connecticut Hospice understood the need for 
patients to be cared for in a familiar, comforting environment, 
surrounded by their loved ones. Their work helped to transform how our 
society handles terminal illness and brought dignity and comfort to 
those in the last stages of life.
  Under the leadership of the Connecticut Hospice, the hospice movement 
has brought the science of comfort and the art of caring to a new 
level, providing release from pain to ensure quality of life. Families 
are both recipients and partners in high-touch care, while hospice 
staff are the givers of high-technology care. Physicians, nurses, 
social workers, pastors, pharmacists, dieticians, and artists combine 
their competence with compassion to make life full and meaningful.
  The John D. Thompson Hospice Institute for Education, Training, and 
Research, an affiliate of the Connecticut Hospice, Inc., enables 
hospice expertise and information to be shared with health care 
institutions throughout the world. Through the institute, medical 
students and other health care personnel are educated in all aspects of 
hospice care. The institute also provides the means to conduct in-depth 
research, allowing the Connecticut Hospice to benefit from the latest 
in health care technology and to be able to upgrade constantly the 
standards of patient care.
  As the JDT Institute and the Connecticut Hospice carry their 21 years 
of experience into the 21st century, they are able to reach the Nation 
and the world. This year, ``hospice.com'' was established as a home 
page on the World Wide Web. Requests for information have been received 
from all over the United States, from Japan, Malaysia, and countries in 
Africa, widening the circle of the hospice community.
  I congratulate the Connecticut Hospice for inspiring a nation, for 
what it has done for America, and for what it can do for the world. I 
urge all communities around the Nation to support hospice care in every 
way possible.

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