[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 183 (Monday, December 3, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S14698]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       TRIBUTE TO DR. HIRAM WARD

 Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, this Friday, on December 7 in 
Murfreesboro, AR, the citizens of Pike County will gather together to 
honor Dr. Hiram Ward as the ``2007 Country Doctor of the Year.'' He is 
receiving the award for coming out of retirement and saving the Pike 
County Memorial Hospital from closure. The award is sponsored by Staff 
Care, a medical staffing firm in Irving, TX, and is presented annually 
``to physicians who best exemplify the spirit, skill, and dedication of 
America's medical practitioners.''
  Since 1953, Dr. Ward has served the citizens of Murfreesboro and Pike 
County as a devoted physician and caregiver. Nearly 9 years ago, Dr. 
Ward, who just recently turned 82, went into ``semi-retirement,'' only 
seeing patients occasionally.
  However, when Pike County Memorial Hospital faced closure due to the 
loss of its staff physicians, Dr. Ward came out of retirement and 
resumed work full time to keep the hospital open. For the last 11 
months, Dr. Ward has served as the chief of staff for Pike County 
Memorial and has been on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. His work 
has kept the hospital, which is the second largest employer in town 
employing 55 people, from permanent closure.
  For the people of southwest Arkansas, Dr. Ward has been a constant 
both at birth and death. He has delivered babies for most of the 
families in the area and also sat at the bedsides of many people's 
parents and grandparents at the hour of their passing. His handiwork as 
a physician is visible on the countless individuals that he ``stitched 
up'' over the course of his career. He has set limbs, removed gall 
stones, and simply improved the condition of his patients by just 
talking to them. He has also saved many lives in Pike County.
  He has been the family doctor for my State director, Donna Kay 
Yeargan, nearly all of her life. She told me that Dr. Ward saved the 
life of her father, Jetty Steel, many times over beginning in 1963 when 
Mr. Steel suffered injuries from a serious car accident. Dr. Ward 
treated him in the emergency room before he was transported to another 
area hospital in Texarkana, AR. Years later, he discovered a heart 
problem in Mr. Steel and insisted that he receive a new heart valve.
  In the years after Donna Kay's mother died, Dr. Ward would travel 20 
miles down an old country road to Nashville, AR, every Saturday night 
to visit with Jetty and give him a quick medical check. But it was at 
the end of Mr. Steel's life that Dr. Ward showed how much he cared 
about his patients. During the 3 weeks Mr. Steel was in the hospital 
before his death in March 2006, Dr. Ward came to the hospital at least 
twice a day to just sit and visit with him.
  He is a quiet and thoughtful man of few words, but he maintains a 
commonsense approach to health and medicine that has made him among the 
most trusted men in the region. His patients are not just patients, 
they are his neighbors, his friends, his extended family. It is obvious 
that he does more than attend to their medical needs; he cares for them 
and loves them like family.
  Dr. Ward's life is medicine and keeping people healthy and active. He 
has always understood the value of treating the whole person. He gives 
each patient his undivided attention no matter how busy he is. There is 
a big difference between ``medical attention'' and ``medical care.'' 
Perhaps the key to Dr. Ward's long and valuable service is that he 
understands that difference and that he really does care.
  Most people would say that Dr. Ward has gone above and beyond the 
call of duty, but his friends doubt that he believes that.
  Already this year, he has been featured in the July 2007 edition of 
``Reader's Digest'' in the Grassroots column for his dedication to the 
people of Pike County and for coming out of retirement to keep the 
hospital open.
  So, Mr. President, I congratulate Dr. Ward. The State of Arkansas is 
very proud of his achievements and happy that Dr. Ward is receiving 
this well-deserved recognition. Although Dr. Ward will take this in 
stride and quietly accept the accolades, his true reward comes from the 
work he has done and continues to do for his community.

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