[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 76 (Tuesday, May 25, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1076]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             TRIBUTE TO DR. AUGUSTO ORTIZ AND MARTHA ORTIZ

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. ED PASTOR

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 25, 1999

  Mr. PASTOR. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to Dr. Augusto 
Ortiz and his wife, Mrs. Martha Ortiz. For 50 years, this outstanding 
team has provided medical and clinical services to the under-served, 
rural and urban, Spanish-speaking populations of Arizona. Dr. Ortiz, a 
medical doctor who graduated from the University of Illinois in 1945, 
provided the medical services while Martha, who rarely accepted 
compensation for her services, acted as the full-time administrator, 
personnel director, and business manager of the practice. The 
willingness of Dr. and Mrs. Ortiz to forego salaries or their 
acceptance of ``pay-what-you-can'' arrangements made medical services 
affordable and available to many poor residents of Arizona. Thousands 
of Arizonans owe their health and lives to the caring dedication of 
this selfless medical team.
  Although Dr. Ortiz' family did not have large amounts of money, they 
encouraged a love of learning and a dedication to community service. 
With these values instilled in him as a young boy in Puerto Rico, Dr. 
Ortiz often dreamed of helping underprivileged people when he grew up. 
In order to pursue his dream of becoming a doctor to aid indigent 
people, Dr. Ortiz had to leave his much loved family and childhood home 
to attend medical school in Illinois. Although he was now thousands of 
miles away, these early dreams and lessons helped guide and inspire him 
to continue toward his goal.
  In the early 1950's, while stationed at Luke Air Force Base in 
Phoenix, Arizona, Dr. Ortiz took on a Herculean task. He readily agreed 
to assist Dr. Carlos Greth with a medical practice that served 80,000 
Spanish-speaking people in Maricopa County. At this time, they were the 
only Spanish-speaking doctors in Maricopa County.
  Aside from generously offering his medical talents, Dr. Ortiz also 
became a champion for those that he treated. His political motivation 
was his need to ``stand up and speak out'' because he felt ``an 
obligation to do something to . . . remedy those problems'' which were 
regularly encountered by his patients. Dr. Ortiz was especially active 
on behalf of his farm worker patients. He was instrumental in obtaining 
an Arizona state ban on the short handled hoe, as well as improving the 
Arizona laws regulating pesticides and field sanitation. Dr. Ortiz' 
commitment and accomplishments make him an outstanding role model for 
the citizen activist. He identified the problems that needed to be 
addressed, sought logical, humane remedies for them, and consistently 
persuaded political decision makers to agree to the solutions.
  Dr. and Mrs. Ortiz not only emphasized preventive health care, they 
organized mobile clinics and community health boards to ensure that 
this message would be heard and spread throughout many Arizona 
communities. In 1972, Dr. Ortiz joined the University of Arizona Rural 
Health Office as the Medical Director. Currently, he continues as the 
Medical Director of the Rural Health Office while maintaining his rural 
mobile clinic practice in three communities. During his tenure, he has 
worked tirelessly to encourage the poor and minorities to enter and to 
succeed in healthcare professions, while continually working to develop 
and deliver better health services for those in need.
  Throughout his career, Dr. Ortiz has received many honors and awards, 
including: The Arizona Latin-American Medical Association Award; the 
Arizona Family Doctor of the Year Award; Distinguished Leadership 
Award, American Rural Health Association (national); and the Jefferson 
Award for Outstanding Service to the Community, Institute for Public 
Service (national).
  Dr. Ortiz and Martha deserve the nation's gratitude and respect for 
the magnitude of the service they have given for such an extended 
period of time. I ask my colleagues in Congress to join me in 
applauding and honoring this noble doctor, Dr. Augusto Ortiz, and his 
admirable wife, Martha Ortiz.

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