[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 138 (Tuesday, October 6, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11635-S11636]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           EUGENE L. MC CABE

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, many years ago Eugene L. McCabe 
came to Washington seeking financial support for his new North General 
Hospital in Harlem. By then people living in Harlem, like many in our 
cities, suffered from hospital cutbacks and closings. They were in 
desperate need of affordable and reliable medical care. The AIDS and 
crack epidemics overburdened what few local facilities there were. But 
where others saw despair, Eugene saw hope and opportunity. He founded 
North General as a community hospital specializing in the treatment

[[Page S11636]]

of diabetes, cancer, and hypertension--common afflictions in urban 
areas. Still, North General did not become overnight what Kenneth 
Raske, president of the Greater New York Hospital Association, called a 
wonderful hospital. It took Eugene's dedication, vision, and compassion 
to see it through. When told his hospital would fail because there was 
no money to be made, he worked harder. The hospital became his life's 
passion. He appealed to banks, businesses, and political leaders for 
support. And he made good on his promise. North General became a 
thriving hospital that has never lost touch with its community. It 
remains the only minority-run hospital in New York State. Located at 
121st Street and Madison Avenue, North General Hospital stands as a 
memorial to Eugene McCabe and his dedication to improving the lives of 
others.
  With his passing much will be said of him. Those who worked with him 
remember a leader--self-assured and inspiring--who, despite popular 
motivations and trends, compelled himself and others to make affordable 
and quality health care a reality for many who might otherwise have 
gone without it. Those who loved him remember his smile, his 
helpfulness, and his gracious presence. Eugene McCabe's life was a 
blessing and we are grateful to have been touched by it.
  I ask that the obituary from The New York Times be printed in the 
Record.
  The obituary follows:

                [From the New York Times, Oct. 1, 1998]

       Eugene L. McCabe, 61, Founder of Harlem Community Hospital

                          (By Barbara Stewart)

       Eugene L. McCabe, a management consultant who founded and 
     was president of North General Hospital, a thriving, 
     minority-operated community hospital in Harlem, died there 
     yesterday. He was 61.
       The cause was breast cancer, his family said.
       ``He was indefatigable in putting it together,'' said Mario 
     M. Cuomo, who, as Governor, approved many of the grants and 
     loans to build North General. ``His strength was his will and 
     his total commitment.''
       North General, a 200-bed hospital on 121st Street and 
     Madison Avenue, is the only minority-operated hospital in the 
     state. Most of its trustees are black. The hospital 
     specializes in treatment for diabetes, cancer and 
     hypertension, which occur widely among low-income blacks. It 
     recently built 300 units of condominium housing for low- and 
     middle-income residents of Harlem.
       ``It is a wonderful hospital,'' said Kenneth Raske, 
     president of the Greater New York Hospital Association. ``And 
     Gene did it through sheer dogged persistence and sharp 
     business acumen.''
       When another specialized hospital moved out of Harlem in 
     the late 1970's, Mr. McCabe, along with Randolph 
     Guggenheimer, a lawyer, developed the idea for North General: 
     a community hospital to serve the impoverished, medically 
     deprived area.
       ``It became his passion, his life work,'' said Livingston 
     S. Francis, chairman of the board of North General.
       Mr. Cuomo, who described the hospital's creation as ``a 
     miracle,'' said it took all of Mr. McCabe's persuasive powers 
     to talk him and others into approving the necessary loans. At 
     the time, many small community hospitals, overwhelmed with 
     the unexpected demands of AIDS patients and crack addicts, 
     were being closed. ``It didn't make financial sense,'' Mr. 
     Cuomo said. ``But he made a case for that hospital. He was 
     always entreating. He was never offensively pushy, but he was 
     insistent.''
       As a result of Mr. McCabe's entreaties in Albany, 
     Washington and New York City, the state appropriated $150 
     million to build the hospital. From the start, it was rooted 
     in the community. At one early point, the union asked the 
     hospital workers to continue working despite a missed pay 
     period, Mrs. Guggenheimer said. With the help of banks, local 
     businesses and politicians, it pulled through several 
     financial crises.
       As president of the new hospital, Mr. McCabe drew on the 
     resources of the staff in unexpected ways, Mr. Francis said. 
     Nurses helped choose color schemes, and engineers installed 
     lighting and laid floors--tasks that would ordinarily be done 
     by outside workers. The process was repeated seven years ago, 
     when North General moved into its current facility, a modern 
     brick building on 121st Street and Madison Avenue, with a 
     bright interior decorated with art selected by staff members.
       ``The hospital,'' Mr. Cuomo said, ``was his.''
       Mr. McCabe, who grew up in New Haven, graduated from 
     Southern Connecticut State University.
       He is survived by this wife, the former Elsie Crum, who is 
     the president of the Museum for African Art in SoHo; their 1-
     year-old twins, Eugene and Erin, and a son, Kevin, from a 
     previous marriage.

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