[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 116 (Thursday, September 9, 1999)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1846]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


       IN RECOGNITION OF THE METROPOLITAN JEWISH GERIATRIC CENTER

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JERROLD NADLER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 9, 1999

  Mr. NADLER. Mr. Speaker, in 1907, a group of women in the 
Brownsville/East New York section of Brooklyn, concerned about the 
health and well-being of their elderly neighbors, joined together to 
organize the Brooklyn Ladies Hebrew Home for the Aged.
  In 1913, the name of the institution was changed to the Brooklyn 
Hebrew Home for the Aged, and a year later the first Home for the Aged 
opened and the first residents were admitted. The total capacity, 70 
residents.
  Concurrent with the increased demand for services, the Home grew 
steadily over the years until, in 1968, it became an affiliated agency 
of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies and was formally renamed 
Metropolitan Jewish Geriatric Center (MJGC).
  To more precisely convey its mission, MJGC is now known as the 
Metropolitan Jewish Geriatric Foundation--an organization that provides 
financial support for the 36 participating agencies and programs of 
Metropolitan Jewish Health System (MJHS).
  Collectively, MJHS agencies and programs serve the health care needs 
of more than 20,000 chronically ill people. MJHS is acknowledged to be 
the premiere integrated health care delivery system serving the Greater 
New York Metropolitan Area.
  The Adult Day Health Center; the Phyllis and Lee Coffey Boro Park 
Primary Care Center; the Hospice of Greater New York; the Jewish 
Hospice; Caregivers; the Center for Rehabilitation and Transitional 
Care; Elderplan, a Social/Health Maintenance Organization; and the 
Institute for Applied Gerontology, which is engaged in research, 
education, and service, are but a few of the programs and services in 
the MJHS consortium.
  And while MJHS applies its knowledge and experience toward serving 
patients of all ages, it has not lost sight of the mission of its 
founders nearly a century ago.
  The Phillip and Dora Brenner Pavilion in Boro Park and Shorefront 
Jewish Geriatric Center Weinberg Pavilion in Coney Island together 
provide comprehensive health care, social-support and recreational and 
cultural services and programs for some 1,000 residents and patients. 
Both are part of the ``continuum of care'' that is the hallmark of 
Metropolitan Jewish Health System.
  On September 7th, at the Waldorf-Astoria, the Metropolitan Jewish 
Geriatric Foundation held its Annual Gala Dinner, an event that 
celebrated 92 years of service to the community, and paid a well-
deserved tribute to Mark L. Goldstein, immediate past chairman of MJHS 
and a distinguished community leader. The event also honored Arletha 
Andrews, Herman Frazier, Pastor Roman, Murray Scherer, Willie Simpkins, 
and Gene Simpkins, each of whom has given dedicated service as an 
employee of an MJHS participating agency for 35 years or more.
  MJHS excels not only in the quality and scope of its care programs; 
it is recognized also for its vision, its innovative spirit, and the 
skill, the dedication and the compassion of all those involved in 
meeting patients' health care needs.
  If past is prologue, I am confident that MJHS will continue to 
burnish its leadership role, with the support of MJGF, record even more 
impressive accomplishments in the service of the community in the new 
millennium.

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