[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 1 (Tuesday, January 27, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E24-E25]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO RICHARD D. ISAAC

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK FOLEY

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, January 27, 1998

  Mr. FOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor and recognize the 
retirement of a friend of all veterans, and the only director the West 
Palm Beach DVA Medical Center has ever known, Mr. Richard D. Isaac.
  A graduate of Morehead State University and an Army veteran, Rich 
began his 25-year Department of Veterans Affairs career in his hometown 
of Pittsburgh as a recreational therapist. With hard work, a 
professional attitude and a good sense of humor, he served in ten 
assignments of increasing responsibility including service as the 
Associate Director at VAMC in Lake City, FL, and as the Associated 
Deputy Regional Director at the Southeast Region Field Office in 
Gainesville, FL.
  In 1989, Rich was appointed as the director of the new VA Medical 
Center to be constructed in Palm Beach County, Florida. During the 
design phase of the medical center, Rich was charged with the daunting 
tasks of coordinating the efforts of regional clinical and 
administrative advisors who provided input to architects in the design 
of each department, as well as evaluating and implementing the overall 
design to assure quality care for every veteran.
  Rich brought the 265-bed medical center and extended care facility to 
life, with its 800,000 square feet of space, nearly 1600 employees and 
$110 million annual budget, and has given the veterans of South Florida 
one of the most efficient, technologically-advanced and caring medical 
facilities in the country.
  Mr. Speaker, it is an honor to thank Richard D. Isaac for his many 
years of service to the

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dedicated veterans across our nation. I wish him and his wife, Marie, 
many enjoyable and healthy years in the mountains of Georgia.

                          ____________________