[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 138 (Tuesday, December 7, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2169]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING WORK AND LIFE OF DR. MELVIN DYSTER

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                     HON. LOUISE McINTOSH SLAUGHTER

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 7, 2004

  Ms. SLAUGHTER. Mr. Speaker, I wish to honor the work and life of Dr. 
Melvin Dyster of Niagara Falls, New York, a family practitioner, who 
this past weekend was honored by the Niagara Falls Memorial Medical 
Center for 50 years of practicing medicine.
  Dr. Dyster is 77 years old and still makes early morning rounds seven 
days a week at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center, sees patients at 
his office, and students at Niagara University in Lewiston, New York.
  Dr. Dyster has had many accomplishments over the years. He started a 
Family Practice Residency Program in 1976 at the hospital to avert a 
shortage of primary care doctors. He became involved with a fledgling 
migrant worker clinic 25 years ago. He secured donated drugs for the 
clinic, and encouraged residents and medical students to become 
involved with the clinic, the County Health Department, and Memorial 
Medical Center, which now sends its mobile clinic to the farms in the 
area.
  His accomplishments have led to many honors and awards. In 1995, Dr. 
Dyster was recognized as Doctor of the Year by the New York State 
Academy of Family Practice. He has received an honorary doctorate 
degree from Niagara University and the University of Buffalo Medical 
School Dean's Award for community involvement. He also received the 
Niagara University College of Arts and Sciences Dean's Award for his 
establishment of the Dr. Melvin B. Dyster Health Science Resource 
Center in 2003.
  Dr. Dyster goes out of his way to provide services for those in need, 
working at the Hamilton Mizer Primary Care Center in Niagara Falls, 
which serves predominantly inner city residents.
  Dr. Dyster is a consultant for the Niagara Falls City Task Force for 
Bioterrorism Preparedness, a member of Niagara County's Health 
Emergency Alert Response Team and an advisor on Memorial's Disaster 
Planning Committee.
  Dr. Dyster's efforts on behalf of the Niagara Falls community extend 
beyond the medical world; he was instrumental in saving the former 
Niagara Falls High School from demolition, which has become a well used 
arts and cultural center.
  Dr. Dyster is a retired full colonel in the Army Reserve and was 
chief of staff at the 865th General Hospital at the Niagara Falls Air 
Base.
  I am honored to have such a caring and compassionate man as Dr. 
Dyster live and work in my district.

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