[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 158 (Wednesday, October 28, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2645]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         BAY PINES HOSPITAL AND EMPLOYEES NAMED BEST IN THE VA

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                         HON. C. W. BILL YOUNG

                               of florida

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 28, 2009

  Mr. YOUNG of Florida. Madam Speaker, the Department of Veterans 
Affairs Hospital at Bay Pines, Florida, which I have the great honor to 
represent, will be honored Friday with the prestigious Robert W. Carey 
Trophy Award for Performance Excellence.
  The hospital and its hundreds of dedicated employees and volunteers 
are being recognized with this, the Department's highest recognition 
across all its departments, including the Veterans Health 
Administration, the Veterans Benefits Administration, and the National 
Cemetery Administration.
  Bay Pines was recognized by the VA last year as ``A Top Quality 
Achiever'' for organizational excellence in seven key areas: 
leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, 
analysis, and knowledge management; human resources; process 
management; and results.
  With this award, Bay Pines is not just one of the best hospitals and 
VA organizations, it is the very best anywhere in the nation. This just 
confirms what veterans in the Tampa Bay area already know.
  Hospital Director Wallace Hopkins and the entire team at Bay Pines 
work hard to provide veterans with the highest quality care they 
deserve and have earned from a grateful nation. And Bay Pines does not 
rest on its laurels. The hospital and its staff continue to find ways 
to improve the delivery of care and services.
  The hospital has opened a new and larger Emergency Room that doubles 
the capacity for emergency care services including emergency mental 
healthcare. Bay Pines has under construction a Radiation Oncology 
Center to provide veterans with state of the art cancer treatment. The 
design is being completed and the ground will be broken soon on a new 
Mental Health Center of Excellence that will bring together under one 
room and improve the delivery of specialized inpatient, outpatient, and 
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder programs. And planning is underway for a 
new and larger Eye Care Clinic and Ambulatory Surgery Center.
  The 2009 Carey Trophy Award is a great honor for all Bay Pines 
employees and is a signal that their dedication and hard work is 
recognized and appreciated. And it is appreciated the most by those who 
are the recipients of their professional and compassionate care--our 
nation's veterans and their families.
  Madam Speaker, it is my hope that my colleagues will join me in 
saying well done to Wallace Hopkins and all the employees and 
volunteers at Bay Pines who work so hard and take such pride in 
honoring America's heroes everyday with the best health care services 
available anywhere in our great nation.

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