[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 6819-6820]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




CONGRATULATIONS TO UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO-FRESNO ON THE 
          OPENING OF THE MEDICAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JIM COSTA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 18, 2005

  Mr. COSTA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to congratulate University of 
California San Francisco Fresno Medical Education Program on this 
ceremonious occasion of the opening of the Medical Education and 
Research Center.
  As UCSF School of Medicine celebrates it 30th anniversary in the 
Valley, the program deserves congratulations for providing much needed 
medical services to our area. With 175 medical residents trained each 
year in the program, over 50 percent of these residents remain in the 
Greater San Joaquin Valley to set up their practices. The Medical 
Education Program offers a unique community development experience. 
Medical students can train with some of the best and brightest doctors, 
at the same time deliver services to community members that may not 
have been previously accessible.
  This Center is a product of a bipartisan effort to provide medical 
resources to a program

[[Page 6820]]

that offers unsurpassed benefits to the community. As one of nine 
Central Valley members of the California State Legislature who sought 
funding for the Medical Education and Research Center, it is certainly 
uplifting to see this project come to fruition. By constructing a new 
Center, UCSF-Fresno will no longer be forced to make do with facilities 
that are functionally obsolete or geographically separated over a wide 
area.
  The new Medical Education and Research Center will serve as the 
operating location for the Medical Education Program and house both the 
administrative and educational components of this program. The facility 
will allow the Medical Education Program to expand and fill its role as 
a leader in health and education in the 21st Century. Just as 
important, this facility is yet another critical addition to the 
Community Regional Medical Center campus in downtown Fresno, a long 
time vision for this community and now a reality.
  In this building, students of medicine will have the opportunity to 
learn the intricacies of medicine and its impact on the broader 
community. Simultaneously, the center will provide individuals the 
insight to the various health issues challenging the residents of this 
region.
  This facility has been years in the making, and the entire community 
will reap the rewards of the newest addition to UCSF-Fresno.

                          ____________________