[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[Senate]
[Page 15397]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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                        HONORING DR. PAUL R. RAO

 Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Madam President, today I wish to 
honor an outstanding gentleman and friend, the man who guided me 
through years of speech recovery. Dr. Paul R. Rao, a recognized leader 
in his field of speech-language pathology, will retire from his work as 
vice president of Inpatient Operations at the National Rehabilitation 
Hospital, NRH, on October 17, 2013, his 67th birthday and 43rd wedding 
anniversary.
  Dr. Rao began his professional career more than 32 years ago at 
MedStar Health and skillfully guided the development of the new speech 
and language department when MedStar opened the National Rehabilitation 
Hospital in Washington, DC, 27 years ago.
  I met Dr. Rao when I entered NRH in February 2007, following an AVM 
and a month in intensive care. Over the months he became more than a 
therapist for me, he was a friend and a coach. When I returned to South 
Dakota in August of that year, Dr. Rao took his own time to join me as 
I greeted the people of South Dakota for the first time since the AVM. 
I continued to work with Dr. Rao in outpatient therapy, despite his 
demanding schedule as a vice-president for NRH, for another 3 years. I 
have been told that we were truly the odd couple, he the ebullient, 
loquacious Italian and I the stoic, reticent Norwegian.
  He is widely recognized for his professional skills and is a sought 
after public speaker. Among his honors is the Clinical Achievement 
Award by the American Speech-Language Hearing Foundation that he 
received not once but twice, in 1989 and 2001. The DC Association for 
Healthcare Quality conferred on Dr. Rao the Janis Willis Annual Award 
for Educational Excellence in 2001 and the Beth Lang Award for 
Outstanding Leadership in 2003.
  In addition, he is a national leader in medical rehabilitation, 
serving as president of the American Speech and Hearing Association, 
and as fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.
  Dr. Rao is the editor of Managing Stroke: A Guide to Living Well 
After Stroke published in 2000 and the lead editor for the second 
edition of this text in 2009.
  He has made invaluable contributions to MedStar's National 
Rehabilitation Network and was recognized for his leadership as steward 
of the patient safety journey when he was awarded the National 
Rehabilitation Hospital's John W. Goldschmidt Award for Excellence in 
Rehabilitation.
  I am pleased to take this opportunity to thank Paul for sharing his 
talents with me. I wish him and Martina a wonderful retirement.

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