[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 27]
[House]
[Pages 35819-35821]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING DR. VINOD K. SHAH AND THE DOCTORS SHAH

  Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, rarely do I avail myself of this 
opportunity, but I do so today to recognize the extraordinary 
contributions of an extraordinary man, extraordinary woman and 
extraordinary family.
  The holiday season is traditionally a season of giving. Today I would 
like to take just a few minutes to recognize the vital contributions of 
a man and his family who have continually given his time, his energy 
and his efforts to the residents of St. Mary's County and to southern 
Maryland, which I am honored to represent in this body, my dear and 
great friend Dr. Vinod K. Shah, affectionately known as Vinnie or V.K.
  Every so often an individual comes along who leaves an indelible mark 
on his or her community and the people around them. In southern 
Maryland, two such individuals are Dr. Shah and his wife, Dr. Shah. Her 
name is Ila. Together they established their medical practice in 
southern Maryland roughly 30 years ago when the citizens there were 
greatly in need of medical services.
  We had some good doctors, but we needed more. Since then Vinnie and 
Ila have built a medical practice that has literally changed the face 
of health care in our region, expanding to become the largest private 
medical practice in the State of Maryland.
  Dr. Shah's service and the service of his family to southern Maryland 
as well as our Nation's dependence on foreign-born doctors, 
particularly in rural America, was recounted in a front-page story in 
the Washington Post on December 7, 2007.
  As Richard Martin, who was the head of St. Mary's County Hospital 
when Dr. Shah arrived, told the Post, and I quote, ``It was just like 
miracle workers had walked in. I told them, `You are the answer to my 
prayers.'''
  The Shahs epitomize family values. Vinod and Ila recruited family and 
friends, including Vinod's eight siblings, each of whom is a doctor or 
is married to one.
  When I refer to the Shah family, let me just recite their names, all 
family, brothers or sisters, sons or daughters, giving service in this 
country to our people:
  Dr. Vinod Shah.
  His wife, Dr. Ila Shah.
  Dr. Mamesh P. Shah.
  Dr. Anil K. Shah.
  Dr. Amish Shah, Dr. Shah's son.
  Dr. Deepak K. Shah.
  Dr. Arpana Shah, his daughter-in-law.
  Dr. Umed K. Shah.
  Dr. Nayan Shah.
  Dr. Atul Shah.
  Dr. Avani Shah.
  Dr. Dhiren Shah.
  Dr. Beena Shah.
  Dr. Jyoti D. Shah.
  It is an amazing list, and it doesn't end there, with his daughter 
doing her residency and her husband doing his residency. The Shahs 
epitomize family values. As I said, they are an extraordinary family.
  Today, Shah Associates is a growing practice that includes 65 
physicians in 10 locations, and which recently announced that it will 
partner with specialists from Georgetown University Hospital and the 
Washington Hospital Center in a planned 32,000 square-foot addition to 
his medical center.
  Leslie Miller, who heads the cardiac program at both hospitals, told 
the Washington Post, referring to Shah Associates, ``They are a model 
of health care of the future. These guys, on their own, using their own 
money, have put together this extraordinary system. We want to extend 
what they have done.''
  Madam Speaker, the manner in which Dr. Shah operates Shah Associates 
is an accurate reflection of this generous and good man and the values 
that he and his family hold and demonstrate to all of us daily. This 
medical practice is truly a family affair, as I have noted, and accepts 
all those who need care, regardless of their ability to pay. I have 
heard extraordinary stories from my constituents about the extent to 
which the Shah family has gone to help them, the care that they have 
extended.
  I have known Dr. Shah for many years. He is my next-door neighbor. He 
is one of my closest friends. He, his wife, his son, his daughter, his 
son-in-law and daughter-in-law are all very close.
  Without doubt, he is one of the most decent, honorable and honest men 
that I have ever met. His wife, Ila, reflects that same character, as 
do his children, their spouses and his extended family, his brothers 
and sisters, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law. He is not only my 
friend and my neighbor, but he is a friend and neighbor to the entire 
community in southern Maryland. He has touched countless lives over the 
years, and the difference he has made, that

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his family have made, that Shah Associates have made, cannot be 
overstated.
  Let me say, too, that Dr. Shah's success is a quintessential American 
story in which a husband and wife, both immigrants, both physicians, 
come to our Nation and through hard work, intelligence, merit and 
reputation become, quite literally, the backbone of the community. 
Gandhi once remarked, ``Be the change you want to see in the world.''
  Vinod Shah, Ila Shah and their family have lived this philosophy to 
the fullest. They saw a dire need and, rather than turn their back or 
leave the problem to someone else, they embraced a great challenge and 
have made an immeasurable, positive, extraordinary contribution. They 
faced discrimination, rejection and challenge.
  Their positive, unflagging, and extraordinary talented effort has 
resulted in their being embraced by their community, which they have 
served so well. They brought hope and care and service, and they have 
enriched the lives of all whom they have touched.
  I want to thank Vinod and Ila as well as all the physicians and 
providers at Shah Associates for the incredible service that they have 
delivered to residents of St. Mary's County and to the entire southern 
Maryland area, and, indeed, a broader reach as well.
  Dr. Vinod Shah is the vice president of the Association of Physicians 
of Indian Origin. I presume, in a short period of time, he will be 
their leader. He will be an extraordinary representative of an 
extraordinary group of people who, like so many immigrants before them, 
have responded to America's welcome and have made such an extraordinary 
difference. We are all the better and healthier for it.

                [From washingtonpost.com, Dec. 7, 2007]

   Born in India, Transforming Rural MD.--Extended Family of Medical 
                  Specialists Helps St. Mary's Thrive

                           (By Jenna Johnson)

       St. Mary's County was once a place where no doctor wanted 
     to settle. In the 1970s, the county hospital used decades-old 
     equipment, struggled to make payroll and had no full-time 
     specialists--not even an obstetrician, although more than 600 
     babies were born there each year.
       Then came Vinod K. and Ila Shah, Bombay-educated and D.C.-
     trained husband-and-wife doctors who were eager to open a 
     practice in the rural area. They had heard about St. Mary's 
     from Vinod's younger brother and were enticed by the 
     potential impact that even a small practice could have there.
       ``It was just like miracle workers walked in,'' said 
     Richard Martin, 92, who was then head of the hospital. ``I 
     told them, `You are the answer to my prayers.'''
       The couple was soon joined by Vinod's younger brother, Umed 
     K. Shah, a gastroenterologist. Next came two family friends. 
     A few years later, another brother arrived, cardiologist Anil 
     K. Shah, with his wife, Beena Shah, a neurologist.
       In time, Vinod and Ila Shah recruited more friends and 
     family, including the rest of Vinod's eight siblings, each of 
     whom is a doctor or is married to one. They built the largest 
     private specialty practice in Southern Maryland, Shah 
     Associates, which has treated about 90,000 of St. Mary's 
     110,000 residents.
       For many years, foreign-born doctors have been the unlikely 
     medical backbone of rural America. In the 1970s, the United 
     States actively recruited them, promoting the opportunities 
     available in remote areas avoided by many U.S.-born 
     physicians. Then, starting in the 1990s, a visa waiver 
     program promised to fast-track doctors to a green card if 
     they worked in a rural area for at least three years.
       Today, at least 23 percent of practicing doctors in the 
     United States attended a foreign medical school, and almost 
     all of those practitioners were born overseas. But recent 
     changes in visa policy have had the unintended consequence of 
     slowing the flow of foreign-born doctors to rural areas, a 
     trend that Shah is, in small ways, resisting.
       Two generations of Shah doctors see patients who span 
     several generations of Southern Maryland families. ``We come 
     here for everything,'' Navy retiree Paul Hailor said at their 
     main office in Hollywood, Md. ``My fiancee is down the hall 
     waiting for a pulmonary appointment. Kids come here for MRIs, 
     CAT scans.''
       Nurses and patients have a system for keeping all of the 
     Shahs straight. They use initials for the four Shah brothers: 
     Dr. V.K. the cardiologist; Dr. U.K. the gastroenterologist; 
     Dr. D.K. the child psychiatrist; and Dr. A.K., another 
     cardiologist. The other Shahs, especially the four with names 
     beginning with `A,' often go by their first name: Dr. Amish 
     the cardiologist, also V.K.'s son; his wife, Dr. Arpana the 
     dermatologist; Dr. Beena the neurologist; Dr. Jyoti the sleep 
     specialist.
       ``Every once in a while, we get someone calling in wanting 
     to talk to `Dr. Shah,''' said Betsy Warren, a registered 
     nurse who has worked for Shah Associates for 16 years. ``You 
     ask them, `Which Dr. Shah?' And they say, `The one with dark 
     hair.'''
       To Southern Maryland, the Shah family has imported 
     distinctive aspects of Indian culture: colorful saris, lavish 
     parties for hundreds stocked with huge trays of vegetarian 
     Indian food and recitals featuring classical Indian dances.
       Family members say it took years to earn the trust of the 
     community, but once they did, the practice quickly grew. Some 
     local doctors who once viewed the Shahs as competition 
     eventually joined the practice.
       Each time the nearby Patuxent River Naval Base added 
     employees, the practice received a wave of patients. The 
     practice's offices, where employees had once been asked to 
     park in front so business would appear brisk, were soon 
     overflowing.
       In 1995, V.K. Shah found an empty lot on Route 235 in 
     Hollywood. Two years later, he opened the Philip J. Bean 
     Medical Center, dedicating it to a late local physician who 
     he said ``delivered half the county.''
       ``We said `Let's name it after someone who means something 
     to this community,''' Shah said. ``I think people should feel 
     good about this place--it should mean something to them.''
       But the facility that felt like a palace then is already 
     too small, and the practice with 65 physicians in 10 
     locations, is scrambling to recruit more doctors. ``Demand is 
     so high across the board,'' said Shah, 66. ``I can't 
     retire.''
       Plans were announced last week for a 32,000-square-foot 
     addition to the medical center. The extra space will allow 
     specialists from Georgetown University Hospital and 
     Washington Hospital Center to practice there as part of a new 
     partnership.
       Because Shah Associates provides so much of the medical 
     care in the region, the partnership will allow the 
     universities to study health patterns over generations, said 
     Leslie Miller, head of the cardiac program at both hospitals.
       Shah Associates has compiled its patients' medical records 
     into a database that allows it to track the medical histories 
     of families and look for early warning signs in younger 
     generations. Such locally comprehensive databases might one 
     day help researchers better understand such hereditary 
     conditions as heart problems, he said.
       ``They are a model of the health care of the future,'' 
     Miller said. ``These guys, on their own, using their own 
     money, have put together this extraordinary system. . . . We 
     want to extend what they have done.''
       But in many areas that are more rural than Southern 
     Maryland, as in many inner cities, the gap between medical 
     needs and resources remains great, despite government 
     efforts.
       In 1994, Congress made foreign doctors who train in the 
     United States while holding a so-called J-1 visa eligible to 
     apply for a green card if they practiced for at least three 
     years in underserved areas. The program, which exempts J-1 
     holders from a required return home for two years after their 
     training is complete, has placed thousands of doctors in 
     inner-city and rural communities, as well as in prisons.
       They continue to flood the United States with residency 
     applications, but each year the program receives fewer 
     applications and fills fewer spots. Last year, only 900 of 
     the 1,620 available waivers were issued.
       Rural health experts attribute much of that drop to the 
     popularity of another visa, the H-1B, which allows U.S. 
     companies to temporarily sponsor highly skilled foreign 
     workers in such fields as medicine, architecture and science.
       In 2000, to make more H-1B visas available for technology 
     companies, Congress exempted research institutions and 
     universities, including their hospitals, from a cap on the 
     hard-to-get visas. The popularity of the J-1 waiver program 
     plummeted, and the pipeline that once channeled doctors to 
     underserved areas narrowed.
       Today, no medical facilities in Southern Maryland are 
     eligible to sponsor physicians under the J-1 waiver program. 
     A majority of the nearly 30 Maryland primary medical care 
     centers designated as having a specialist shortage are in 
     Baltimore. The District has 13 sites, including the D.C. 
     jail. Virginia has nearly 120, two of which are in the 
     Washington area.
       With baby boomers beginning to retire, the American Medical 
     Association says, the country could be short as many as 
     200,000 doctors before 2020--a shortage that is expected to 
     hurt already-underserved areas the most.
       V.K. Shah, who is also vice president of the American 
     Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, said a shortage 
     could be prevented by drastically increasing the number of 
     medical schools in the United States, relying more on nurses 
     and nurse practitioners or by allowing more qualified 
     international medical graduates to practice in the United 
     States.
       But to practice, foreign doctors must first complete 
     training in a U.S. residency program, for which spots are 
     scarce. Last year,

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     46 percent of foreign applicants received residencies, 
     compared with 93 percent of American graduates, according to 
     the National Resident Match Program, which facilitates the 
     application process for more than 1,000 U.S. institutions.
       Each year, Shah Associates hosts a handful of graduates 
     from foreign medical schools, encouraging them to seek 
     opportunities beyond big cities. This summer, four recent 
     graduates of Mumbai medical schools traveled to Southern 
     Maryland on tourist visas for an unpaid crash course in 
     American medicine.
       The graduates watched as the Shahs cracked jokes with their 
     patients, reassured them about upcoming operations and gently 
     recommended diet changes. Mitesh Lotia, 24, one of the 
     graduates, said that the one-on-one interaction held great 
     appeal.
       ``In India, we would see 100, 150 patients a day,'' he 
     said. ``There was no time to get to know patients. I want to 
     practice here. I'll go anywhere.''

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