[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 9, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1004-E1005]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF MEMORIAL HERMANN

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. KEVIN BRADY

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 9, 2007

  Mr. BRADY of Texas. Madam Speaker, I rise today to bring the House of 
Representatives' attention to the many accomplishments of the Memorial 
Hermann Healthcare System. This year marks the system's 100th year of 
providing the most advanced healthcare to the people of Texas. Though 
the Memorial Hermann name has only been in use since 1997, the 
hospitals that form this great healthcare system have been a 
cornerstone of the Houston medical community for over a century.
  Their story began in 1907 when Rev. Dennis Pevoto led an effort to 
purchase an 18-bed sanitarium in downtown Houston, and converted it 
into what would eventually become known as the Memorial Hospital 
System. Under its new leadership, the hospital would treat all 
patients, regardless of religion, race or their ability to pay--a 
mission that has not changed in the hospital's 100 year history.
  Seven years later, prominent Houstonian George H. Hermann bequeathed 
nearly $2.6 million for the construction of a hospital dedicated to 
treating the poor and sick of Houston. By 1925 the Hermann Hospital was 
accepting patients and opening a school of nursing. Eventually, the two 
hospitals would merge to form what is now known as Memorial Hermann.
  Throughout its first 100 years, the hospitals that now form the 
Memorial Hermann system have been at the leading edge of medicine and 
technology. Their many firsts include being the first general hospital 
in Texas to receive penicillin (1943), performing the first cardiac 
catheterization in Texas (1946), being the first hospital in the nation 
to be air conditioned (1949), establishing the first general practice 
residency in Texas (1957), establishing the first hospital-based speech 
clinic in the South (1965), being the first community hospital in the 
nation to offer routine hearing tests for newborns (1969), and 
performing the first ever hand transplant (1992). These accomplishments 
and many more have brought the medical professionals of Memorial 
Hermann national and international recognition as one of the best in 
the business. In fact, Memorial was first voted a ``Top 100'' hospital 
in the nation beginning in 1996.
  Today, the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System encompasses 16 
hospitals employing nearly 19,000 throughout Texas. Its state-of-the-
art facilities treat patients and train the nation's next generation of 
physicians across the state, including in my hometown of The Woodlands.
  Madam Speaker, the lives this wonderful hospital has touched are 
countless. I congratulate them on reaching this magnificent milestone 
and wish them the best for their next 100 years.

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