[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 1, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S592]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   REMEMBERING ELIZABETH HOWARD SWAIN

 Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, today I wish to honor Elizabeth 
Howard Swain. Elizabeth was a lifelong champion of community health 
care centers, as well as the people they serve, and a wonderful 
colleague, mother, and friend.
  After graduating from Boston University with a B.A. in sociology and 
a master's degree in political economics, Elizabeth moved with her 
family to Seattle, WA. In 1981, she began working at Seattle's 45th 
Street Clinic, a Federally Qualified Health Center, FQHC, and 
eventually became the executive director, a position she held for 10 
years. Elizabeth founded the Community Health Plan of Washington and 
worked as the regional health officer at Public Health of Seattle and 
King County, as well as the assistant vice president for public policy 
for the Community Health Network of Washington.
  In 2005, Elizabeth was recruited to be CEO of the Community Health 
Care Association of New York State, an advocacy organization that 
supports more than 65 FQHCs. In Albany, she was a strong advocate for 
community-based primary care and was known for her ability to bring 
rival forces together and create partners out of adversaries.
  Elizabeth also championed FQHC's and the importance of community-
based primary care in the American health system in regular meetings 
with members and staff of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pension Committee. While Elizabeth was grateful that I secured 
significant funding for FQHCs through the Affordable Care Act, as a 
strong supporter of universal health care, she was disappointed that 
neither the ``public option'' provision, much less a single-payer 
Medicare for all plan, were part of the ACA. Elizabeth remained true to 
her commitment to provide quality health care for all Americans, and 
she did all of this with tremendous energy and compassion for the most 
vulnerable and medically underserved populations.
  Elizabeth understood the need to move health care dollars into the 
front end of the system, where they could be used more efficiently to 
prevent illness, through patient care management, case management and 
nutrition, and by keeping people out of expensive hospital settings. 
She also recognized the critical need for all-inclusive and integrated 
health care, including dental care and mental health services, in both 
urban and rural communities served by FQHC's.
  Elizabeth will be sorely missed. She is survived by her sisters 
Julia, Cynthia, and Judith and children Kalil, Carmen, and 
Alexis.

                          ____________________