[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4254]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING LaWANDA W. PARKS

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 13, 2016

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
remarkable public servant, Mrs. LaWanda W. Parks, who served as the 
Executive Assistant to the Network Director of the South Central VA 
Health Care Network, an integrated system of 10 VA medical centers 
providing a full range of specialty, tertiary, mental health, and long 
term care in an eight-state region. As a member of the Network's 
Executive Leadership Team, Mrs. Parks was the Network's liaison to VA 
Central Office in Washington, DC, served as the Network Management 
Support Officer and provided oversight for VISN administrative 
operations.
  Mrs. Parks joined the VA 17 years ago as an Administrative Resident 
at the New Orleans VA Medical Center and has held positions of 
progressive responsibility at the local and National levels before 
returning to her home state of Mississippi as the Executive Assistant 
to the Network Director in 2007.
  Mrs. Parks is a 2010 graduate of the Veterans Health Administration 
(VHA) Health Care Leadership Institute and a 2012 graduate of the VHA 
Executive Career Field program. She is a mentor for the Network's 
Advance Leadership Development Institute and has served on a number of 
national workgroups and committees. Mrs. Parks is also a member of the 
American College of Health Care Executives and Delta Sigma Theta 
Sorority, Inc. From August 2010-October 2010, Mrs. Parks served as the 
interim Assistant Medical Center Director of the Birmingham, Alabama, 
VAMC.
  A native of Magnolia, Mississippi, Mrs. Parks holds a bachelor's 
degree in Economics from Tougaloo College and a master's degree in 
Health Care Administration from the University of Alabama-Birmingham. 
She and her husband, Mr. Michael Parks have one son, Ezekiel.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Mrs. 
LaWanda W. Parks for her dedication to serving others.

                          ____________________