[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 67 (Tuesday, May 11, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S5096]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    ST. JOHN'S HOSPITAL, SPRINGFIELD

 Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, I rise today to commend St. John's 
Hospital in Springfield. This is National Hospital Week, when 
communities across the country celebrate the people that make hospitals 
the special places they are. This year's theme sums it up nicely: 
``People Care. Miracles Happen.'' It recognizes the health care 
workers, volunteers, and other health professionals who are there 24 
hours a day, 365 days a year, curing and caring for their neighbors who 
need them.
  An example of this dedication is the Parent Help Line of St. John's 
Hospital in Springfield, Illinois. The program won the American 
Hospital Association's prestigious Hospital Award for Volunteer 
Excellence, which highlights special contributions of hospital 
volunteers.
  The Parent Help Line provides parents and agencies with easily 
accessible, low-cost parenting information and support to help 
strengthen families and prevent child abuse. Trained volunteers give 
parenting tips, support and referrals to about 100 callers a month. 
Volunteers also visit parents of newborns and offer information about 
infant growth and development and about the Parent Help Line services, 
and a volunteer nurse makes a follow-up call to each family one month 
after discharge. Volunteers taking part in an intervention program 
regularly call parents identified as high risk. Parenting classes, 
program and support groups are made available to parents, and a 
television show on parenting issues airs weekly on a local public 
access channel. A monthly newsletter is mailed to more than 1,500 
individuals and agencies in central Illinois.
  Mr. President, I want to congratulate St. John's Hospital for this 
award-winning program.

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