[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 87 (Thursday, June 21, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1183]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        MARLETTE COMMUNITY HOSPITAL: HOMETOWN CARING AT ITS BEST

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JAMES A. BARCIA

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 21, 2001

  Mr. BARCIA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Marlette Community 
Hospital upon celebration of the 50th anniversary of the opening of its 
doors in Marlette, Michigan. The hospital's founders, its excellent 
staff and leaders such as Administrator David McEwen and Board 
President Gordon Miller deserve high praise for the initiation and 
sustaining of first-rate health care to generations of friends and 
neighbors in the Thumb region of Michigan.
  Located in a rural community with about 2,000 residents, the 91-bed 
facility was founded in 1951 to provide quality medical care close to 
home after community leaders decided it was time to build a hospital in 
their town. As the story goes, the need was identified after a young 
man with a broken leg had to climb several stairs to a doctor's office 
to receive treatment. An initial downpayment of $10,000 by the Fred 
Willis family served as seed money to begin construction of the new 
hospital, but planners ran into a snag in securing federal grant money 
because Marlette was considered too small to warrant such expenditures. 
During a trip to Washington, DC, community leaders persuaded lawmakers 
to adopt the so-called Marlette Amendment, which allowed the grants to 
go to smaller communities.
  Since its inception, the hospital has consistently provided superior 
elective and emergency care to patients and offered a wide variety of 
services to residents in the three-county area. Today, the thousands of 
residents who live in Marlette and surrounding communities depend upon 
the top-noted physicians, nurses and other professionals who attend to 
their health needs.
  In addition, a $162,000 donation by Guerdon T. Wolfe allowed the 
hospital to build a 24-bed retirement complex in 1969 to serve the 
residential needs of seniors. In recent years, the hospital also has 
reached out by offering many important new services, including 
establishing a network of primary care offices for the convenience of 
residents who don't live nearby. Also a partnership with Saint Mary's 
Medical Center in Saginaw has allowed the hospital to build a new 
facility that will provide chemotherapy and radiation therapy services 
for cancer patients in the Thumb area.
  Finally, Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in wishing the 
wonderful staff of Marlette Community Hospital the very best wishes on 
their 50th Anniversary and hopes for many more years of serving the 
health care needs of the Thumb.

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