[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 26 (Thursday, February 16, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E214]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING DR. AARON SHIRLEY FOR HIS COMMITMENT TO SERVICE TO THE CAUSE 
                             OF HEALTH CARE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 16, 2012

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor one of the 
original pioneers of rural and adolescent health care in the state of 
Mississippi, Dr. Aaron Shirley. Dr. Shirley has always worked to 
provide quality and accessible health care for the poor and underserved 
populations in the state of Mississippi.
  Dr. Shirley was born in Gluckstadt, Mississippi on January 3, 1933. 
In 1951, he began his undergraduate studies at Tougaloo College in 
Tougaloo, Mississippi, where he received his Bachelor of Science degree 
in 1955. He received his Medical degree from Meharry Medical College in 
Nashville, Tennessee in 1959 and later interned at Hubbard Hospital 
before completing his residency in pediatrics in 1967 at the University 
of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi.
  Dr. Shirley began private practice in 1960, and for 15 years, 
practiced general medicine in Vicksburg, Mississippi. From 1963 to 
1967, he helped to organize the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party 
and served as chairman for Warren County. Following this, Dr. Shirley 
was the director of the Mississippi Action for Progress, an 
organization which provided health care and education to children. From 
the beginning of his career, he has been committed to health care in 
Mississippi and was a pioneer in providing volunteer health services to 
Head Start centers at a time when Head Start was a budding program.
  In 1970, Dr. Shirley, along with others, developed the largest 
community health center in the state of Mississippi, which now serves 
more than 40,000 low income patients annually. In 1979, he initiated a 
comprehensive health clinic within an inner city school to provide 
comprehensive health and counseling services for teens. He placed 
special emphasis on reducing teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted 
disease, drug abuse, teenage violence, and mental health problems. This 
program has since served as a model for other school-based clinics 
nationwide.
  Dr. Shirley's commitment to quality health care led him to be active 
in the development and/or organization of various agencies and projects 
which shared his dream of quality, affordable health care for all 
individuals. Some of those agencies included Mississippi Action for 
Progress, the Mississippi Association of Community Health Care for the 
Poor, the Medgar Evers Community Health Center, the Tufts Delta Health 
Center, and G.A. Carmichael Community Health Center.
  Dr. Shirley has served as a member of the Southern Regional Council 
in Atlanta, Georgia, the Select Panel for the Promotion of Child 
Health, the National Health Insurance Advisory Committee, the Institute 
of Medicine/National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C., the Field 
Foundation in New York City, New York, and most notably, Dr. Shirley 
served as a working group member with President Bill Clinton's Health 
Care Reform Task Force in 1993.
  During that same year, Dr. Shirley received the MacArthur Fellows 
Award which recognizes devotion, dedication, and strides made in one's 
field. He is the recipient of many outstanding awards both locally and 
nationally.
  Currently, Dr. Shirley serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors 
for the Jackson Medical Mall Foundation, Director of Community Medical 
Services, and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the University of 
Mississippi. His efforts are focused on developing and implementing 
innovative measures to access quality healthcare for the uninsured and 
underinsured residents of Mississippi. Dr. Shirley is working closely 
with the State Division of Medicaid as well as with hospitals and other 
not for profit agencies to reduce health disparities for 
Mississippians.
  His model for Hinds County is currently being reviewed for possible 
statewide and national replication, through the Robert Wood Johnson's 
Communities in Charge Program. In 2005, Dr. Shirley was honored with 
the endowment of Chair for the Study of Health Disparities at the 
University of Mississippi Medical Center, and he was selected to serve 
as a member of the Citizens Health Care Working Group which was 
mandated by Congress to hold hearings and community meetings across the 
country on health care coverage and cost issues, and to produce a 
``Health Report to the American People.''
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that my colleagues join me in honoring Dr. Aaron 
Shirley for his tireless commitment and service to the cause of health 
care throughout the state of Mississippi and abroad.

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