[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 140 (Thursday, October 1, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2410]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           COPPER QUEEN COMMUNITY HOSPITAL 125TH ANNIVERSARY

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GABRIELLE GIFFORDS

                               of arizona

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 30, 2009

  Ms. GIFFORDS. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize the Copper 
Queen Community Hospital, which has been providing exceptional 
healthcare in Bisbee and Southeastern Arizona for 125 years.
  Copper Queen Community Hospital began serving residents in this 
historic mining community of Bisbee in the 1880s. Like the community it 
serves, the hospital has come a long way since those rough and tumble 
days, when its medical care was offered in a mining cave.
  The first hospital building was built by the mining companies in 
1900--a dozen years before Arizona even became a state. Twenty-six 
years later, a new hospital was constructed to provide services to the 
miners and other patients. At that time, Bisbee was a thriving and 
bustling community, a town that grew prosperous because of copper, 
gold, silver and other minerals.
  Today's current hospital building opened in 1961, thanks to the 
Phelps Dodge Corporation. It was operated by the mining company until 
1976, when the hospital and all equipment were donated to the Cochise 
County Hospital Association. At that time, the Bisbee Hospital 
Association was established to oversee hospitals operations and to 
ensure that Southeastern Arizona had access to necessary medical 
services and high-quality patient care. This new association was open 
to community members and leaders, beginning a tradition of community 
involvement that continues to this day.
  The Copper Queen Community Hospital of 2009 is a 14-bed critical-
access, non-profit facility that provides a full range of medical 
services to residents of Bisbee and Cochise County. In recent years, 
clinics in outlying areas have extended healthcare to rural 
communities.
  The hospital's strong commitment to rural healthcare makes it a 
worthy recipient of federal assistance. Needed funding allows for the 
ever expansion of the emergency room, improvement in patient services 
and help for those in need in Cochise County.
  For more than a century, Copper Queen Community Hospital has held 
true to its mission of providing access to primary healthcare in 
southeastern Cochise. The hospital is one of only four in Arizona to be 
on the list of the 100 Top Regional Hospitals in the United States. It 
plays a critical role in the delivery of medical services to the people 
of Congressional District 8.
  I am proud to join with a grateful community to commend Copper Queen 
Community Hospital for its long tradition of quality healthcare and I 
wish it continued success.

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