[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 71 (Thursday, June 4, 1998)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1029-E1030]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




AUDREY A. STRICKER HONORED BY COOPERATIVE OF AMERICAN PHYSICIANS, INC. 
                   ``21ST CENTURY WOMAN OF MEDICINE''

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. GEORGE W. GEKAS

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 4, 1998

  Mr. GEKAS. Mr. Speaker, I want to bring to your attention that Audrey 
A. Stricker, a native born and raised Pennsylvanian who did her early 
nursing training in Pittsburgh, has devoted 30 years to the field of 
medicine in evolving capacities and is returning home from Los Angeles, 
CA to the East Coast this month. On June 17, 1998, the Cooperative of 
American Physicians-Mutual Protection Trust (CAP-MPT) is honoring Ms. 
Stricker at their Los Angeles headquarters on her retirement to express 
their appreciation for her 19 years of service to CAP-MPT. The mission 
of the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. is to provide risk 
reduction and financial protection services of the highest quality for 
physicians and affiliated groups, and to promote membership in the 
interindemnity trust (MPT). The mission of the Mutual Protection Trust 
is to provide the highest quality, cost effective professional 
liability protection services for qualified member physicians and 
affiliated entities. CAP-MPT continues to strive to put doctors in 
charge of the business of medicine with its 13 physician member Board 
of Directors led by President and Chairman Darwood B. Hance, M.D. and 
its 5 physician member Board of Trustees led by Chairman J. Michael 
Wormley, M.D. CAP-MPT, as it did in its beginning 21 years ago in 
response to the California crisis in medical malpractice liability 
insurance, remains a physician directed enterprise.
  Ms. Stricker's early career was devoted to front-line management and 
delivery of medical care at various hospitals from 1968 until 1979, 
including: Shadyside Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA as an Operating Room and 
Recovery Room Supervisor; Director of Operating and Recovery Room 
Services at Northridge General Hospital, Fort Lauderdale, FL; and 
finally as Asst. Director of Nursing, Operating Room Services at Cedars 
Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. During this period, Ms. Stricker 
pursued a quest of knowledge and personal growth that mirrors the 
changing times in medical practice in the United States by enhancing 
her skills from an R.N. Degree obtained in Pittsburgh, PA to a B.S. in 
Nursing Degree from the University of Buffalo, N.Y. Continuing in the 
path of expanding her medical expertise and horizons while serving at 
Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Ms. Stricker in April, 1980 obtained a 
B.S. Degree in Management from Pepperdine University, Los Angeles.
  With this broad base of educational and professional experience and 
resources in medicine, Ms. Stricker began in 1979 her service

[[Page E1030]]

with CAP-MPT, and from 1987 to 1994 served at different times as both 
Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of CAP-MPT. Retiring 
as Executive Vice President, Ms. Stricker is an example of the high 
quality of CAP-MPT's current leadership team headed by Chief Executive 
Officer James L. Weidner and their commitment to assisting its 
physician members in reducing the risks associated with medical 
practice and to improving the quality of patient care.
  It is through CAP-MPT's advocacy and Ms. Stricker's participation in 
that effort that I become better acquainted, while serving on the House 
Committee on the Judiciary, with California's 20 year experience with 
the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA) and its important 
role in holding down the costs of medical care. The MICRA model as 
employed by CAP-MPT is of renewed significance as the Congress 
continues to address the issue of managed care and HMO reforms and how 
to best insure physician control of the patient care.
  We welcome home Audrey Stricker as our own Pennsylvania inspired and 
ever evolving ``21st Century Woman of Medicine''. She will continue to 
inspire us, as she did all her colleagues through her steadfast pursuit 
of excellence. We look forward to the continued success of CAP-MPT's 
model of patient choice and physician control in its pursuit for the 
best medical results.

                          ____________________