[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 65 (Friday, May 10, 1996)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E764]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF RURAL HEALTH CORPORATION

                                 ______


                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, May 9, 1996

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 25th 
anniversary of the Rural Health Corp. of northeastern Pennsylvania 
[RHC]. Tomorrow, the RHC board of directors, employees, and friends of 
the agency wil celebrate 25 years of success, and I am pleased to have 
been asked to participate in this event.
  The Rural Health Corp. has been instrumental providing public health 
services to the residents of northeastern and central Pennsylvania. The 
RHC is a private, nonprofit corporation that was founded for the 
purpose of providing primary and preventive health care to the 
medically underserved. It concentrates its efforts on helping those 
people who are isolated geographically or economically from major 
health service centers, and who have limited alternative health 
resources.
  The RHC is governed by a volunteer, unpaid board of directors 
selected from the areas served by the corporation; over 50 percent of 
the board members have utilized the facility's services. The 
corporation currently serves almost 18,000 individuals throughout the 
area, providing comprehensive pediatric, adolescent, and adult health 
care at six medical and three dental centers. Other services include 
community health education, nutrition education, and transportation.
  The first patients were seen by the RHC staff in January 1971, in the 
first RHC building. By 1973, three additional buildings had been 
constructed to serve the rapidly growing number of patients that were 
seeking services from the RHC. The next 4 years focused on expanding 
services, and strengthening the quality of care. Since 1977, two 
additional medical centers and one dental center were opened, and a new 
building replaced the RHC's original facility. In addition, the RHC 
opened a pharmacy, and a centralized management information system 
complete with computerized financial, billing, and patient data a 
systems.
  RHC has participated in a number of innovative health care programs. 
Between 1984 and 1988, the corporation established the PennCare Health 
Plan, a prepaid health care program for medical assistance recipients. 
In the fall of 1987, the RHC launched the Luzerne County Integration 
Project to replace the Pennsylvania Department of Health's Immunization 
Program, which was then terminated in Luzerne County. The corporation 
administered the area's State subsidized program of vaccination for 
perdiatric patients.
  In 1987, the RHC responded to a Federal initiative to extend health 
services to the homeless under the Stewart B. McKinney Homeless 
Assistance Act. Services provided by the medical care facility include 
patient outreach and case management, mental health and substance abuse 
counseling, emergency and impatient hospitalization.
  The services that the RHC has provided during its years of operation 
have saved and improved the live of thousands of people. During its 25-
year history, the RHC has evolved from a small county practice into one 
of the largest providers of primary care in the region, and one of the 
largest nonprofit community health center programs in the Commonwealth 
of Pennsylvania. The RHC can be proud of all that it has accomplished. 
I salute the Rural Health Corp. of northeastern Pennsylvania and wish 
it continued success as it strives to improve the quality of lives of 
the people it serves.

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