Remarks in a discussion at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, May 31, 2004

May 27, 2004

The President. Thank you all for coming. Please be seated. Tommy, thanks for the kind introduction. You can keep your job for a while. [Laughter] I put him in my Cabinet because I knew how effective he was as a Governor. He was the Governor of Wisconsin. [Applause]

And I knew when I asked him to--don't go overboard for Wisconsin, please. [Laughter] I knew when I asked him to join my Cabinet that he would reform programs that needed reform, focus resources on programs that needed resources, and would do a great job. He really has. He's been a remarkable Secretary of Health and Human Services, and I'm proud he came here today.

We're going to talk about an interesting subject, and it's one that has got a chance to change our country for the better. As you can see, I've surrounded myself with people who probably can--not probably--will be able to explain the subject better than me.

But before we get talking about health care and how to make sure the costs are reasonable and health care is affordable and medical errors are reduced by using information technology, I do want to thank the good folks here at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center for your hospitality. I particularly want to thank Harry Jacobson for welcoming us, for allowing us to use this facility to talk about health care. No better place to talk about health care than at a place that delivers excellent health care, right here at Vanderbilt. Thanks for having us.

Neal Patel is with us. Where are you, doc? There he is. Neal showed us the new children's hospital, some of the parts of the children's hospital. It's an impressive facility. Thank you for being a doctor. Thank you for caring about America's kids, and thank you for giving us a tour. I want to thank Jim Shmerling, who is the CEO; Bill Stead, who is the chief information officer. Thank you all for coming.

This is a--the reason we're here is because this hospital knows how to use information technology for the benefit of patients and does. That's why we're here. You're ahead of the country in using technology to your advantage, and we'll talk about that here in a second.

I want to thank my friend Senator Bill Frist for joining us today. Senator, you're doing a heck of a job. You cut your eye teeth here, right? That's where you started practicing? That's good. He married a Texas girl, I want you to know. [Laughter] Karyn is with us, a west Texas girl, just like me. We both married above ourselves, didn't we, Senator? [Laughter] But Karyn, thank yon for coming. I'm proud you're here.

I want to thank Members of the Congress who are here with us today. First, Congressman Jim Cooper from this district. Thanks for coming, Congressman, proud you're here. Jimmy Duncan is with us, Jimmy. And you brought your son John, I see. Thank you for being here. I know Zach Wamp and Kim are here. Thank you all for coming. Appreciate you being here. And Marsha Blackburn is with us today. Marsha, thanks for coming.

I know the mayor is here. Mr. Mayor, I appreciate you coming. Thanks for being here. Fill the potholes, that's the only advice I can give you. [Laughter] I'm sure you are.

Today when I landed, I met Phuong Le. Phuong, please stand up for a second, will you? Thanks for coming. I'll tell you why I wanted to introduce Phuong. She is a soldier in the army of compassion. That's why I want you to hear about her. She is a person who just graduated from high school, like a week ago, right, Phuong? Yes, a week ago. For 6 years, she has been volunteering at the Siloam Family Health Center to not only help people who can't speak English communicate with the caregivers there, but to help provide love for those who hurt. That's what she's there for. The reason I bring up Phuong is because I want to remind you that the strength of this country is in the hearts and souls of our citizens. We're a mighty military power. We will stay that way to make the world more free and more peaceful. We've got a mighty economy. We are a wealthy nation compared to other nations, but our strength is in the hearts and souls of our citizens. That's our true strength. Our strength is found when people take time out of their life, like Phuong has done, to help somebody who hurts.

See, the great hope for America is neighbor loving neighbor. The hope for this country is when somebody who is hungry or needs shelter or needs love can find it when a fellow citizen says, "What can I do to make your life better?" I appreciate, Phuong, you serving as such a great example for the folks here in this community. I call on others to love your neighbor just like you'd like to be loved yourself. And you can join the army of compassion, which is changing America for the better one heart, one soul at a time. Thanks for coming.

One of the important subjects in America is how do we make sure health care is affordable and available. Part of making sure health care is available is for medicine to use information technology, and that's what we're here to discuss.