Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 105 Part 2.djvu/694

 105 STAT. 1646 PUBLIC LAW 102-207—DEC. 10, 1991 Public Law 102-207 102d Congress Joint Resolution Dec. 10, 1991 To designate the week beginning February 16, 1992, as "National Visiting Nurse [H.J. Res. 212] Associations Week". Whereas visiting nurse associations have served homebound Americans since 1885; Whereas such associations annually provide home care and support services to more than 1,500,000, men, women, children, and infants; Whereas such associations serve 422 urban and rural communities in 45 States; Whereas such associations adhere to high standards of quality and provide personalized and cost-effective home health care and support, regardless of an individual's ability to pay; Whereas such associations are voluntary in nature, independently owned, and community based; Whereas such associations ensure the quality of care through oversight provided by professional advisory committees composed of local physicians and nurses; Whereas such associations enable hundreds of thousands of Americans to recover from illness and injury in the comfort and security of their homes; Whereas such associations ensure that individuals who are chronically ill or who have physical or mental handicaps receive the therapeutic benefits of care and support services in the home; Whereas, in the absence of such associations, thousands of patients with mental or physical handicaps or chronically disabling illnesses would have to be institutionalized; Whereas such associations provide a wide range of services, including health care, hospice care, personal care, homemaking, occupational, physical, and speech therapy, friendly visiting services, social services, nutritional counseling, specialized nursing care by registered nurses, and meals on wheels; Whereas, in each community serviced by such an association, local volunteers support the Eissociation by serving on the board of directors, raising funds, visiting patients in their homes, assisting patients and nurses at wellness clinics, delivering meals on wheels to patients, running errands for patients, working in the association's office, and providing tender loving care; and Whereas the need for home health care for young and old alike continues to grow annually: Now, therefore, be it

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