[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Pages 18968-18969]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO JIM BERNSTEIN

 Mr. BURR. Mr. President, I rise today to discuss a North 
Carolinian who passed away on June 12, 2005, but will always be dear to 
our hearts. Jim Bernstein's work ended as it began--in selfless service 
to underserved communities in need. A career arc that began with 
volunteer service with the U.S. Peace Corps in Morocco ended with post-
retirement volunteer service to the North Carolina Department of Health 
& Human Services' rural health initiatives. In between, Jim provided 
the Nation and the State of North Carolina with more than 30 years of 
distinguished leadership in a variety of

[[Page 18969]]

health and social policy arenas, including rural health, health care 
finance, public health, social service delivery, medicaid, nonprofit 
management and health care system innovation.
  After earning a bachelor of arts degree in political economy from 
John Hopkins University in 1964 and a masters of hospital 
administration from the University of Michigan in 1968, Jim began his 
lifelong health care service as the director of Indian Health Services 
for Northern New Mexico. In 1970, he was awarded a 3-year fellowship in 
the U.S. Public Health Service, and relocated to North Carolina to 
concentrate his studies on rural health and fuel a passion that would 
serve as the basis for the next 35 years of his career.
  In 1973, while still in his 20's, Jim became the director of the 
Nation's first Office of Rural Health, located in North Carolina. In 
that role--which he held for nearly 30 years--Jim spearheaded the 
development and implementation of a medical recruitment service 
designed to help rural and medically underserved communities recruit 
physicians and other health care providers. Since then, more than 2,500 
physicians, nurse practitioners, physicians' assistants, dentists and 
other health care professionals have been recruited to North Carolina. 
He also directed the development of 83 community-owned health centers, 
and led the creation of Community Care of North Carolina, a care 
management program that today provides access to high-quality, cost-
effective care to more than 643,000 North Carolinians. Those efforts--
and countless others--have positioned the State's rural health function 
as a nationally recognized model of excellence.
  Throughout his career, Jim served as a director, chairman or 
consultant to more than two dozen professional organizations, 
including: National Rural Health Association, where he was president 
from May 1994 to May 1995; National Advisory Committee on Rural 
Health--U.S. Public Health Service, Office of Rural Health Policy, 1994 
to 1995; Institute of Medicine--Committee for Guidance in Designing a 
National Health Care Disparities Report, Washington, DC 2001 to 2005; 
Commissioner, Prospective Payment Assessment Commission, where he was 
selected by the U.S. Congress to advise the body on Medicare finance; 
1990 to 1996; chairman, Advisory Panel to the Office of Technology 
Assessment's Study on Rural Health Care, U.S. Congress; 1988; Delegate, 
National Medical Tour to the People's Republic of China, 1978; 
Consultant, National Academy of Sciences/Institute of Medicine--Task 
Force on Study of Health Needs in Egypt, Cairo, Egypt; 1978. His 
extraordinary commitment to lifelong community service to these and 
dozens of other organizations garnered him the North Carolina Order of 
the Long Leaf Pine in 2005.
  In 1982, upon the recommendation of a State legislative study 
commission, Jim helped establish the North Carolina Foundation for 
Advanced Health Programs, Inc, NCFAHP. From 1982 to 2005, he served as 
the foundation's president, helping it spearhead projects targeting the 
health care needs of low-income underserved communities. Under Jim's 
leadership, NCFAHP secured more than 40 grants totaling more than $17 
million, allowing it to implement dozens of programs for enhancing 
health care delivery across the State. He also served as national 
director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Practice Sights 
Program through NCFAHP.
  Before retiring in 2005, Jim had, since 2001, served as assistant 
secretary for Health at the N.C. Department of Health and Human 
Services. In that role, he oversaw the North Carolina Departments of 
Facility Services, Medical Assistance, Mental Health, Minority Health, 
Public Health and Rural Health. He also served as an adjunct professor 
at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, 
Department of Social and Administrative Medicine; 1979 to 2005 and as 
an adjunct assistant professor at the School of Medicine at Duke 
University in Durham, NC, Department of Community and Family Medicine; 
1978 to 2005.
  Jim's impact on North Carolina will never be forgotten. He was a 
champion for rural health car and the belief that every individual 
should have access to high-quality health care.

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