[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 82 (Thursday, June 10, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1227]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    HONORING JOSE ORLANDO MEJIA, MD

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. NYDIA M. VELAZQUEZ

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 10, 1999

  Ms. VELAZQUEZ. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of Jose Orlando 
Mejia, the Chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine and the 
Director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Woodhull Medical and 
Mental Health Center, and Assistant Professor in the Department of 
Medicine at the State University of New York Health Science Center at 
Brooklyn.
  Board certified in three specialities--Internal Medicine, Pulmonary 
Medicine, and Critical Care Medicine--Dr. Mejia is an expert in asthma, 
emphysema, smoking-related illness, and diseases of the lungs, 
respiratory system and heart.
  Graduated from the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo School of 
Medicine in the Dominican Republic, he has received advanced training 
through a Pulmonary Medicine Fellowship at the Long Island College 
Hospital, and a Critical Care Medicine Fellowship at the Albert 
Einstein College of Medicine Montefiore Hospital.
  For nearly twenty years, Dr. Mejia has dedicated his work to caring 
for the people of our communities. He has taken a holistic approach to 
care-giving--not only working to heal the patient, but care for the 
community as well. He is a keen diagnostician and excellent 
communicator--speaking to patients in both English and Spanish. As 
such, he can provide a unique type of care--providing a level of 
comfort and support emotionally while healing people physically.
  Dr. Mejia's special interest in asthma is particularly important to 
the communities I represent in New York's 12th Congressional District, 
where air pollution is an enormous problem. Due to the traffic and 
waste-transfer sites that are located throughout Brooklyn, asthma and 
other respiratory problems are particularly high--especially among 
children. Dr. Mejia's work addresses these problems in a direct and 
critical way.
  Many times people who make valuable contributions to our communities 
go unrecognized. I would like to urge my colleagues to join me in 
congratulating Dr. Mejia for the work he has done, the people he has 
helped, and the strength he has given to our communities. Because of 
his work the 12th Congressional District is a better place, and I thank 
him and wish him continued success.

                          ____________________