[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 162 (Friday, December 16, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S13779]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               CONGRATULATIONS TO SAINT JOSEPH'S HOSPITAL

 Mr. ISAKSON. Mr. President, I rise to memorialize in the 
Record of the Senate, one of the great institutions in the State of 
Georgia. This year, Saint Joseph's Hospital celebrates its 125th 
anniversary of providing the citizens of Atlanta and the Southeast with 
the highest quality and most compassionate health care services.
  Let me speak for a moment on the significance of Saint Joseph's:
  In 1880, 125 years ago, shortly after the Civil War, four young 
determined Sisters of Mercy traveled to Atlanta from Savannah with a 
meager 50 cents in their collective pockets to start a hospital. 
Hospitals were not common during this time. The Sisters' idea of 
creating a hospital that would serve the entire community, and not 
simply be a place to die, was truly bold and visionary.
  With the goal of ``extending the mission of healing mercy begun by 
Christ, showing a just and compassionate regard for all who suffer,'' 
Saint Joseph's Infirmary was established as a 10-bed hospital in an old 
house located on Courtland and Baker Streets in downtown Atlanta.
  Saint Joseph's established Georgia's first school of nursing in 1900, 
an indigent ward to care for the poor and rural population during the 
depression, diagnostic outpatient clinics, and a $10,000 operating room 
to begin a legacy of state-of-the-art medical technology.
  The hospital became a national leader in treating heart disease, 
performing the first openheart surgery in the Southeast, the first 
angioplasty as an alternative to bypass surgery, and operated the first 
comprehensive cardiac catheterization laboratory. And, Saint Joseph's 
became one of only six medical centers in the world to perform 
percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.
  In 1978, the hospital moved to north Atlanta in order to continue its 
growing mission of service and changed the name to Saint Joseph's 
Hospital. To maintain close ties with those it served downtown, Saint 
Joseph's Mercy Care Services began. Starting as a simple signup sheet 
for volunteers to visit women's and homeless shelters, teams used their 
own vehicles and worked out of tackle boxes filled with medical 
supplies donated by physician offices. Today, Saint Joseph's Mercy Care 
Services is truly an integral part of the community. They now provide 
comprehensive services to the chronically homeless of Atlanta.
  In 2003, the hospital formed the Saint Joseph's Research Institute, a 
comprehensive research center to provide patients access to some of the 
newest and most innovative therapies available in the world. The 
Research Institute provides preclinical research and trials and 
clinical trials in cardiology, pulmonology, radiation, oncology, 
gastroenterology, orthopaedics and more.
  Saint Joseph's is among only 10 nonteaching hospitals in the country 
to have earned the Distinguished Hospital Award for Clinical Excellence 
and Patient Safety by HealthGrades, Inc., the Nations' leading provider 
of health care quality information. It is also among a prestigious 
group of hospitals on Solucients 100 Top Hospitals for Cardiovascular 
care--Saint Joseph's has been named a 100 Top Hospital 5 times. J.D. 
Power and Associates also has recognized Saint Joseph's as a 
Distinguished Hospital for Service Excellence, providing an outstanding 
patient experience, for 2 consecutive year, the first hospital in 
Atlanta to earn the distinction.
  But it is the people behind the awards and recognitions that make 
Saint Joseph's so unique. From the Sisters of Mercy who still are 
intimately involved with the hospital to the nurses, physicians and 
medical support staff--the spirit of mercy is alive and vibrant. That 
spirit transcends the entire organization and is the foundation for the 
superior medical services and programs, the unique compassionate care, 
the volunteers who raise money for the homeless and underserved, and 
the auxiliary who put in tireless hours at the hospital without pay. 
The spirit of mercy is in all employees who come to work year after 
year with smiles on their faces and compassion in their hearts.
  It gives me great pleasure to recognize on the Senate floor the 
contributions of Saint Joseph's Hospital to the citizens of Atlanta, 
GA, and the Southeast.

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