Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 107 Part 3.djvu/682

 107 STAT. 2620 PROCLAMATION 6529—FEB. 18, 1993 American Heart Month. I invite the Governors of the States, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, officials of other areas subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, and the American people to join me in reaffirming our commitment to combatting cardiovascular diseases and stroke. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fourteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety- three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and seventeenth. WILLIAM J. CLINTON Proclamation 6529 of February 18, 1993 National Visiting Nurse Associations Week, 1993 By the President of the United States of America , A Proclamation Since 1885, countless men, women, and children have been provided care in their own communities and homes by the staff of Visiting Nurse Associations. These associations are in 422 urban and rural communities in 45 States and provide home health care to more than 1,500,000 people. The associations are voluntary in nature, independently owned, and community based. They offer a wide range of services, including hospice care, personal care, homemaking, social services, nutritional coimseling, specialized nursing care, and occupational, physical, and speech therapy by registered nurses. Historically, the care provided by Visiting Nurse Associations has enabled many individuals who are chronically ill or disabled to remain in their homes. Such care provides a setting that is familiar to them and is characterized by the physical and social support of family, friends, and loved ones. Today, as an increasing munber of people are being released from acute care settings and returning to their communities in need of complex home health assistance. Visiting Nurse Associations have been quick to respond. Whether caring for a low birth-weight baby, assisting a person recently released from the hospital following surgery, or administering life-sustaining procedures, Visiting Nrnrse Associations have proven to be critical care providers. The associations adhere to high standards of quality and provide personalized and cost-effective health care and support, regardless of a person's ability to pay. They are enthusiastically supported by the conunimities in which they are located, and their resoiuces are regularly enhanced by the services of volimteers and the donations of community members. In recognition of the increasing need for home health care, and the significant potential of Visiting Nurse Associations to provide this care, the Congress, by House Joint Resolution 484, has designated the week beginning February 14, 1993, as "National Visiting Nurse Associations Week" and has authorized and requested the President to issue a proclamation in observance of this week.

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