[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 49 (Friday, April 26, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Page S3465]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE HEROES

   Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, I rise today to pay 
tribute to some of the health care heroes in my home state of Oregon. 
This week, I want to recognize the hard working people who staff the 
Merrill Clinic, in Merrill, Oregon.
  The Merrill Clinic was started in October 1996 after its founder, 
Michael A. Sheets, retired as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public 
Health Service. Before coming to Merrill, Mr. Sheets spent a number of 
years providing health care to underserved people all over the country. 
He has served on Indian reservations, attended to victims of mine 
disasters in Kentucky, and aided people involved in car accidents miles 
away from ambulance service. Upon arriving in Merrill, Mr. Sheets 
recognized that he was once again in a position to make a difference in 
the lives of people who lack access to high quality health care, and he 
started the Merrill Clinic. Prior to the opening of the Merrill Clinic, 
the people of Merrill had gone without a local clinic for 15 years.
  The Merrill Clinic comes from humble beginnings. One early patient at 
the clinic paid for his services with a 6-pound trout. Now the clinic 
serves people from as far as 90 miles away--people for whom the Merrill 
Clinic is their first access to care. Last year alone, 8600 patients 
came to the clinic and its branch office in Bonanza, Oregon, to receive 
suturing, casting, biopsies, well child checks, family planning, and 
mental health services. Such services were previously out of reach for 
many of those 8600 patients. Even though the clinic serves so many from 
so far away, the clinic's 7 staff members find time to make house 
calls.
  In recent months, the Merrill Clinic has provided much more than 
health care. Last year, during the height of the terrible drought and 
recession in the Klamath Falls area, one patient at the clinic 
mentioned that she knew of three families that had not eaten in several 
days. Mr. Sheets immediately enlisted the help of the Klamath and Lake 
County food banks and local volunteers to set up a makeshift food bank 
in the back of the clinic. While volunteers like the Lost River High 
School football team unloaded food from delivery trucks and operated 
the food bank during the day, the Merrill Clinic staff continued to 
attend to the health care needs of local patients. The Merrill Clinic 
food bank, run out a small kitchen, served as many as 300 people in a 
single day.
  I believe that each and every staff member at the Merrill Clinic is a 
health care hero. The people at the Merrill Clinic are those rare 
professionals who expand their duties to meet the many needs of the 
community they serve. I believe that Mr. Sheets and his staff are to be 
commended for the pioneering work they do in Merrill and the 
surrounding area, and salute them as heroes for Oregon.

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