[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 150 (2004), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 11791-11792]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        AMERICA'S BEST VA CLINIC

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, June 8, 2004

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, I want to call the nation's attention to 
the exemplary work done by the staff of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs Clinic in Bennington, Vermont. Recently, the Federal Executive 
Association gave its ``Federal Employee of the Year Award'' to the 
entire Bennington VA Clinic staff.
  As the Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) housed at the Vermont 
Veterans Home in Bennington, the facility and its staff serves the 
primary health care needs of eligible veterans in the region of 
southwestern Vermont. Over 1800 veterans in Vermont get exceptional 
medical care from Dr. Peter King and his colleagues in the clinic. As a 
sign of their remarkable dedication to the health and well-being of 
veterans, the Bennington VA Clinic was rated among the top ten clinics 
in the nation in ten of twelve categories. Ranking so highly among the 
more than 850 community-based VA clinics is a clear indication of the 
extraordinary work done by the Bennington staff,
  Established in 1998, the Bennington VA Clinic affords veterans a 
single primary care

[[Page 11792]]

provider to coordinate their care on an ongoing basis. It, along with 
the Fort Ethan Allen CBOC in Colchester, the CBOC in Rutland, and the 
CBOC in Littleton, NH (which serves veterans in the St. Johnsbury 
area), makes primary medical care more accessible to those who cannot 
always make the long journey to our excellent VA facilities in White 
River Junction.
  We in Vermont are proud both of our veterans, and of the dedicated 
people who honor them by meeting their medical needs.

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