[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 72 (Friday, June 5, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S5733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     TRIBUTE TO ALFRED HEALY, M.D.

 Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, on June 30, 1998, Alfred Healy, 
M.D., professor emeritus of pediatrics and special education at the 
University of Iowa, in Iowa City, Iowa will conclude a distinguished 
41-year career of clinical service, teaching, research, and 
administration of innovative programs supporting individuals with 
developmental disabilities. His career at the University of Iowa 
includes 21 years of directing three entities: the Division of 
Developmental Disabilities in the Department of Pediatrics, the 
University Hospital School of the University of Iowa Hospitals and 
Clinics, and the Iowa University Affiliated Program. He also provided 
leadership to numerous national and international programs promoting 
the independence, productivity, and community inclusion of people with 
disabilities.
  Dr. Healy gained firsthand knowledge of physical disabilities as a 
young teenager, during his recovery from two prolonged episodes of 
rheumatic fever that later severely restricted his participation in 
sports and other physical activities. Seeking other ways to participate 
in athletics, he earned his bachelor's degree in physical education in 
1956 from the University of Notre Dame while concurrently serving as 
Assistant Athletic Trainer for all Notre Dame athletic teams.
  A Master of Arts Degree in physical education followed in 1957 from 
the University of Iowa, where for three years he served as a teacher at 
the Iowa Hospital School for Severely Handicapped Children, assisting 
children with cerebral palsy, the residuals of poliomyelitis, and other 
physical disabilities in their rehabilitation process. This experience 
led him to pursue a medical degree, which he earned from the University 
of Iowa in 1963. Following residency training in pediatrics and 
fellowship training in disabilities, he joined the pediatric faculty at 
Iowa in 1967, achieving full professorship in 1980. In 1977 he was 
appointed director of the Division of Developmental Disabilities, the 
renamed University Hospital School, and also of the Iowa University 
Affiliated Program.
  As a professor of pediatrics, he served as director of the Division 
of Developmental Disabilities, and over the years he supervised the 
training of countless numbers of medical students, physical and 
occupational therapy students, pediatric and family practice residents, 
and community physicians. Of the fourteen physician fellows trained 
under Dr. Healy's leadership, nine are now sharing their expertise and 
understanding of the interdisciplinary process with another generation 
of trainees in other university training programs. As a professor of 
special education, Dr. Healy has taught several courses relating to 
disabilities on an on-going basis each year for the College of 
Education.
  As director of University Hospital School, Dr. Healy has provided 
clinical care in both inpatient and outpatient settings to thousands of 
infants, children and adults with physical disabilities. He presided 
over the transition of University Hospital School from a residential 
school, founded prior to the passage of P.L. 94-142, to its current 
role as a tertiary level diagnosis and evaluation center supporting 
community education and human service programs throughout Iowa. The 
hallmark of Dr. Healy's administration of University Hospital School 
has been his commitment to the interdisciplinary process as the most 
effective response to meeting the clinical needs of individuals with 
disabilities.
  As director of the Iowa University Affiliated Program, Dr. Healy 
expanded the breadth of University Hospital School programs to also 
emphasize pre-service training, community education, technical 
assistance to state and local agencies, and information sharing 
programs. Most of these activities were implemented through grants and 
contracts that were awarded in no small part because of his leadership. 
Current examples include the statewide Iowa Program for Assistive 
Technology, the Iowa COMPASS information and referral service, the Iowa 
Telemedicine Project from the National Library of Medicine, the Iowa 
Prevention of Disabilities Policy Council, and the Maternal and Child 
Health funded Iowa Leadership in Neurodevelopmental and related 
Disabilities Project.
  Dr. Healy has also participated in a wide range of national and 
international initiatives. Responding to a request from the American 
Academy of Pediatrics in 1978, Dr. Healy secured federal funding, and 
then served as chair of the National Advisory Committee, for the $3.9 
million, four-year New Directions training course for pediatricians 
that dealt with Public Law 94-142. In 1986, also on behalf of the 
Academy of Pediatrics, he secured funding, and chaired the National 
Advisory Committee for the $3.2 million, four-year Project BRIDGE 
training program for pediatricians and therapists that focused on the 
use of the interdisciplinary process in early intervention for children 
with physical and other disabilities. This led the academy to award him 
the Ross Award for Lifetime Accomplishment in Pediatric Education in 
1986.
  Following service in a number of committee and task force roles, Dr. 
Healy was elected president of the American Association of University 
Affiliated Programs in 1984, and was presented their ``Distinguished 
Service Award'' in 1995. He served as president of the American Academy 
for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine in 1989. He served two 
three-year terms as a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics 
National Committee for Children with Disabilities, followed by two 
three-year terms as chairman. These offices provided many opportunities 
to significantly influence federal legislation and funding for programs 
serving children with physical and other disabilities, and he provided 
verbal testimony on eight occasions to various committees of the U.S. 
Congress. In addition, he served as a member of the federal Social 
Security Administration panel selected to devise a federal response to 
the U.S. Supreme Court Zebley versus Sullivan decision regarding SSI 
benefits, which affected hundreds of thousands of children with 
physical and other disabilities in America.
  On the international level, Dr. Healy has provided consultations to 
Ireland, Saudi Arabia, and Russia regarding ways to improve their 
national programs for children with physical and other disabilities. He 
was also instrumental in helping to establish a University Affiliated 
Program in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, and he has now completed two 
trips to Belfast, Northern Ireland, to assist Queens and Ulster 
Universities in establishing similar programs.
  During the four decades of his career, Dr. Healy has seen, and 
contributed to, unprecedented changes in society's response to people 
with disabilities. According to Dr. Healy, the most rewarding aspect of 
his work has been participating in a dynamic systems change that now 
affirms that people with disabilities, and their families, must be at 
the center of service planning, setting goals, and identifying the 
means to achieve them. He repeatedly acknowledges that his greatest 
teachers have been individuals with disabilities and their families. My 
colleagues are particularly pleased, I know, to join me in expressing 
profound appreciation for the career of this remarkable American--
clinician, teacher, researcher, and leader.

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