[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 56 (Tuesday, April 20, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  RECOGNIZING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AUXILIARY SERVICE FOR INOVA 
                            FAIRFAX HOSPITAL

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. GERALD E. CONNOLLY

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 20, 2010

  Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia. Madam Speaker, today I would like to 
recognize the members of the Auxiliary of Inova Fairfax Hospital, a 
group of volunteers dedicated to quality support to the hospital, 
patients and community, and commend them as they celebrate their 50th 
anniversary.
  The Auxiliary of Inova Fairfax Hospital is the largest corps of 
volunteers serving the hospital. A small group of local women got 
together while the hospital was still in the planning stages, as a way 
for interested citizens to help make the hospital a reality. The first 
formal meeting of the Executive Board of the Auxiliary was in the fall 
of 1960, when the Auxiliary numbered fewer than 100 active members. 
Today, when you join the Auxiliary, you are joining an organization of 
about 1,200 volunteer members whose mission is to provide quality 
volunteer services, support and financial resources to the hospital, 
its patients and the community. The excellent health care services our 
community enjoys today are a result of their hard work.
  In the organization's first year, volunteers logged more than 14,000 
service hours. Since then, volunteers at Fairfax have contributed 
millions of hours of service to assist patients and allow hospital 
staff to focus on patient care.
  Among the many successful results of the volunteers' fundraising 
efforts was a $3 million contribution--the largest gift in the Inova 
Health System's history at that time--to help build the Inova Heart and 
Vascular Institute, a 156-bed state-of-the-art cardiac facility that 
opened in 2004. The volunteers also raised money to contribute $1 
million each to the Inova Fairfax Hospital Women's and Children's 
Center and the Physician's Conference Center.
  Madam Speaker and my esteemed colleagues, I ask you to join me in 
congratulating the Auxiliary of Inova Fairfax Hospital on 50 years of 
extraordinary dedication for the betterment of Inova Fairfax Hospital 
and the greater Fairfax community.