[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 118 (Friday, August 3, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1400]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING DR. ROBERT LIGHTFOOT, RECIPIENT OF THE SAMUEL BUFORD WORD 
                                 AWARD

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, August 2, 2012

  Mr. BONNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor Dr. Robert Dickson 
Lightfoot, for being awarded the Samuel Buford Word Award. This is the 
highest award given by the Medical Association of the State of Alabama 
in recognition of service to humanity beyond the usual scope of medical 
practice.
   Dr. Lightfoot is a fourth-generation physician who graduated with 
honors from the University of Alabama School of Medicine in 1981 and 
completed a general and vascular surgery residency at the University of 
Kentucky Medical Center in 1986. He later returned to school receiving 
a Bachelors of Science in Psychology in 1997.
   After participating in several medical mission trips to Central and 
South America, Dr. Lightfoot and his wife, Tami, realized a need for 
affordable, quality primary adult health care in their own community. 
Out of this need, Dr. Lightfoot founded Victory Health Partners in 
Mobile, Alabama, in 2000 and began seeing patients in 2003 with incomes 
less than 300 percent of the federal poverty line.
   What began as an act of faith by one physician and his wife has now 
turned into a fully functional partnership involving hundreds of 
volunteers, medical providers, and churches. The clinic has grown from 
seeing 12 patients on its first day in 2003, to serving more than 
18,000 in this past year. The clinic's patients come over 20 counties 
in Alabama, eight in Mississippi, and four in Northwest Florida. In the 
past decade, Dr. Lightfoot has seen Victory Health Partners expand to 
offer dental and eye care, as well as wound care and diabetic classes 
for adults.
   Dr. Lightfoot has devoted his life to medicine and providing 
healthcare to the needy. Through his brilliant acts of generosity, 
faith, and dedication to his community, Dr. Lightfoot is an 
accomplished physician who has earned the respect of his patients, 
staff and colleagues.
   On behalf of the people of Alabama and my colleagues in the Alabama 
Delegation, I wish to extend a personal thank you and congratulations 
to Dr. Lightfoot on his monumental achievement and selfless acts of 
generosity for the people of South Alabama and surrounding areas. May 
God continue to be bless him, his staff and all those they serve.

                          ____________________