[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 153 (Tuesday, October 28, 2003)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2134-E2135]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                TRIBUTE TO VA MEDICAL CENTER, LOMA LINDA

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JOE BACA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 28, 2003

  Mr. BACA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to pay tribute to Dean R. Stordahl, 
Chief Executive Officer of the VA Medical Center located in Loma Linda, 
and the entire hospital staff for being awarded the Robert W. Carey 
Organizational Excellence Trophy Award for 2003. This outstanding 
facility proudly serves our veteran men and women and provides 
invaluable service to their community, while honoring the lives of our 
fallen soldiers. I join with grateful families across our nation in 
celebrating this year's Carey Award winner.
  For the past 25 years, the Loma Linda Medical Center has honored the 
lives of thousands of soldiers through their diligent work. 
Characterized by dignity and class, the medical center is dedicated to 
serving veterans who fought for our country. It has been an integral 
contributor to the Inland Empire and has given the respect and esteem 
that all servicemen and women deserve.
  The Carey Award is foremost an award based on excellence. 
Qualifications extend

[[Page E2135]]

from performance in organizational leadership and management to 
strategic planning and community contribution. It is excellence in 
these areas that characterize a Carey Award winner. The Loma Linda 
Medical Center has proven year after year that it not only exhibits 
these specific qualities but also performs them at the highest possible 
level.
  And so, Mr. Speaker, I join today with the residents of the Inland 
Empire in congratulating our valued VA Medical Center for its 
remarkable achievement, and express my sincere admiration and deference 
to this magnificent medical center.

                          ____________________