[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 119 (Thursday, September 19, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1628]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     RECOGNIZING DR. JAMES WITHERS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. WILLIAM J. COYNE

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 19, 2002

  Mr. COYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call the House's attention to 
one of my constituents who has recently been recognized for his efforts 
to provide medical care to southwestern Pennsylvania's homeless 
population.
  Dr. James S. Withers, M.D., will be receiving a 2002 Robert Wood 
Johnson Community Health Leadership award on September 24 at the 
National Press Club. Dr. Withers is the founder and Medical Director of 
Operation Safety Net in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
  Each year the Community Health Leadership Program honors ten 
outstanding, individuals who have found innovative ways to bring health 
care to communities where health care needs have been ignored and 
unmet. Each award winner receives $120,000--$105,000 for program 
support and $15,000 for a personal stipend.
  Dr. Withers, who teaches medicine at Mercy Hospital in Pittsburgh, 
has been actively involved in providing health care to local homeless 
residents since 1993. In that year, he founded Operation Safety Net to 
provide this care. Operation Safety Net currently has 16 volunteer 
teams which seek out homeless individuals and address their health care 
needs. Operation Safety Net currently serves about 900 patients a year, 
many of whom suffer from substance abuse and mental illness.
  Dr. Withers has said that the award money will be used as matching 
funds for a grant to carry out a 3-year plan to improve health care for 
the homeless and develop methods for measuring the results of such 
efforts.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to take this opportunity to commend Dr. Withers 
for all of his hard work and congratulate him on the recognition of his 
efforts with a Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leadership Award.




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