[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 78 (Tuesday, May 10, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E473-E474]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     HONORING DR. MARK JUSTIN APFEL

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JARED HUFFMAN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, May 10, 2022

  Mr. HUFFMAN. Madam Speaker, I rise today in recognition of Dr. Mark 
Justin Apfel as he retires from Anderson Valley Health Center and an 
extraordinary 45-year career in health care in rural Mendocino County.
  Born in New York in April 1949, Dr. Apfel earned an undergraduate 
degree at Syracuse University and graduated from medical school at SUNY 
Upstate Medical University Norton College of Medicine. He went on to 
become an emergency room physician with Kaiser, serving Oakland, 
Vallejo, and Redwood City, California, and then a physician for East 
Oakland Family Health Center. In 1976, he was selected to be an 
emergency room physician for Hillside Hospital in Ukiah, California. 
That same year, Dr. Apfel began serving as a volunteer physician with a 
newly formed health clinic in Boonville, California, soon to become the 
Anderson Valley Health Center. Dr. Apfel stepped into the role of the 
first full time doctor at Anderson Valley Health Center (AVHC) in rural 
Mendocino County, where he worked for the next 45 years.
  While working at AVHC, Dr. Apfel took on additional roles as an 
emergency room physician and medical director of palliative care for 
Ukiah Valley Medical Center in Ukiah, California; and he served as a 
staff physician at the Mendocino Community Hospital in Fort Bragg, 
California. This work required Dr. Apfel to commute frequently 
throughout Mendocino County, travelling year-round over the windy 
country roads that connect these communities.
  In addition to Dr. Apfel's professional service to Mendocino County, 
he was an active

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volunteer for fundraising on behalf of AVHC, and he provided medical 
service training for members of the Anderson Valley Volunteer Fire 
Department and Anderson Valley Ambulance Services. Dr. Apfel also 
continued to pursue professional development, broadening his expertise 
in palliative care.
  Dr. Apfel shared his skills and knowledge with the medical community 
in the extended region and state through his leadership in the 
Coalition for Compassionate Care of California, and by helping 
establish the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) 
Program. Furthermore, his efforts to ensure appropriate palliative 
medical care and end-of-life care resulted in improved access to 
critical information for patients and their loved ones.
  Madam Speaker, the breadth and depth of Dr. Apfel's dedication and 
generosity of service to ensure access to affordable, high-quality, and 
compassionate health care in Mendocino County, the state, and Nation 
are unparalleled. He is appropriately regarded as a local healthcare 
hero, but his service and contributions extend far beyond his 
community. Please join me in recognizing Dr. Mark Apfel for his near 
half-century of good work and wishing him the best in his next 
endeavors.

                          ____________________