[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 107 (Tuesday, July 17, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S5083]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             CONGRATULATING MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL

 Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, today I can finally congratulate 
everyone at Massachusetts General Hospital, MGH, on a special and well-
deserved distinction long in the making: MGH has been named America's 
Best Hospital by U.S. News & World Report.
  I say ``finally'' because I have been patiently keeping my promise 
not to publicly share the news now these last 6 days since Dr. Slavin 
called me to pass along the great news in advance. Now he has 
confirmation that in a Washington, DC, full of leaks, there is at least 
one U.S. Senator who still knows how to keep a secret.
  Today's public announcement confirms what all of us in Massachusetts 
have always known--that if you need to find first-rate care for a loved 
one with a serious and complicated condition, then you go to the 
Massachusetts General Hospital. It comes as no surprise to us that this 
revered Massachusetts institution would hold the honor of best hospital 
in the Nation.
  Today's announcement is one two centuries in the making. It started 
with the dream of Rev. John Bartlett, who in 1810 wanted to establish a 
state-of-the-art medical facility for the physically and mentally ill 
which would train the Nation's finest doctors. That dream was carried 
by Drs. James Jackson and John Collins Warren, who advocated in the 
Massachusetts Legislature for a charter and collected donations as 
small as 25 cents and as large as $20,000 to make the dream a reality. 
Finally, in 1821, the institution currently known as Mass General 
opened its doors to patients and became the first teaching hospital of 
Harvard Medical School.
  Since then, MGH has been providing cutting-edge care to patients from 
all over the world. It was the home to many firsts: the first public 
demonstration of surgical anesthesia, the identification of 
appendicitis, the establishment of the first medical social service, 
and the first replantation of a severed arm by a surgical team.
  But more than firsts, Mass General has provided a place of hope for 
all those who needed help. It is the employees of MGH who have made 
this possible from generation to generation. I have seen on my visits 
to the hospital that it is the people--the nurses, doctors, orderlies, 
administrators, security guards, and medical students--who make MGH the 
Nation's best.
  I know firsthand of MGH's exceptional work particularly well from two 
people whose insights mean the world to me: my wife Teresa, who has 
been a patient at MGH as she was treated for breast cancer, and through 
my daughter Vanessa, who has made MGH her home as a doctor. Both have 
shared story after story not just about first-rate care but about 
deeply caring doctors and nurses and skilled professionals who always 
put patients first. That is the heart of MGH, and it is no secret that 
without team members who are constantly looking for the next 
breakthrough in medicine and a better way to care for patients, 
tomorrow's innovations would not be possible.
  It is even more of a testament to the power of MGH's work that they 
have become the Nation's best hospital in a State with near universal 
health coverage. We now have the best health care coverage rate in the 
Nation with 98.1 percent of residents having health insurance, 
including 99.8 percent of all children.
  We must continue to raise the bar as we implement the Affordable Care 
Act and provide this guarantee of coverage nationwide. MGH should serve 
as a model to all hospitals across the country that you can provide 
universal coverage while still providing the highest quality care to 
your patients. I know MGH will remain at the top of this list for years 
to come because they have proven that covering more patients and 
providing quality outcomes are not mutually exclusive goals.
  There is much celebrating to be done in Boston, but there is still 
much more work to be done to improve the health of all Americans. I am 
convinced that MGH and our other great institutions in Massachusetts 
will continue to meet the challenge by setting the standard for 
delivering the highest quality health care. I congratulate Dr. Peter 
Slavin, Dr. David Torchiana, and everyone who works at MGH for their 
efforts in making this hospital the best in the Nation and, I believe, 
the best in the world.

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