[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 60 (Thursday, April 23, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E955]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HONORING DR. PADMANABHAN ``DAN'' MUKUNDAN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. DANNY K. DAVIS

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 23, 2009

  Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, on February 5, 2009 the City of 
Chicago and the nation lost an inspirational leader in community 
health, Dr. Padmanabhan ``Dan'' Mukundan. Dr. Mukundan, or ``Dr. Dan'' 
as he was warmly known, was a pioneering force in community medicine in 
Chicago for nearly 40 years. Dr. Dan held a lifelong commitment to 
caring for the medically underserved and he believed passionately in 
providing the highest quality of medical care to all persons regardless 
of health status or ability to pay.
  Dr. Dan opened his first practice on Chicago's South Side in the 
1970s, and in the early 1990s he joined ACCESS Community Health Network 
where he served as the Medical Director. His drive and enthusiasm for 
quality community health care attracted other dedicated medical 
providers into the field and into ACCESS, which is now the largest 
community health center organization in the nation. With Dr. Dan's 
support, ACCESS has grown to operating over 50 health centers serving 
over 215,000 patients annually in the greater Chicago area. Today, 
ACCESS is regarded as a national leader in providing quality primary 
and preventive medicine to uninsured and underinsured patients. Dr. 
Dan's work was essential to enabling ACCESS to build a unique community 
health infrastructure in the Chicagoland area, an infrastructure 
leveraged through partnerships to provide patients access to the 
specialty, diagnostic and inpatient services they require. In addition, 
he expanded the scope of ACCESS's program to include mental health and 
social services.
  On Saturday, April 25, family, friends, colleagues and patients of 
Dr. Dan will gather to remember his life and his accomplishments. I 
extend my heartfelt condolences to Dr. Mukundan's family and to those 
who will gather in his memory, including Donna Thompson, Linda Shapiro 
and other members of the ACCESS leadership team.
  Dr. Mukundan's work had an indelible impact on the fabric of health 
care in Chicago's underserved communities and today I rise to 
recognize, and to direct my colleague's attention to, this great 
Chicagoan.

                          ____________________