C, EVet-ett Koop, M-D,, SC-D- Surgeon General Of -t;he United States Pub1 i c Health Set-vi cze REMARKS Presented at Ellis Island, New YOt-k September 28. 1989 Page 1 Dr _ Chang, Mr, Buckley, Lad i es and gentlemen, We gather i n' this spectacul at- setti ng to t-emembe r and pay tribute to the roots f r-om which We grow. El 1 is Island -- mot-e than any symbol in Ameri&a -- calls to mi nd our history as a nation 0-f immigrants, 0-f men women and chi lldrn who gave up establ i shed ways of life to gamble on the possib-il-i-ties o-f the New Worlld F ram 1892 when the f-i rst immigration station was opened her-e in New York harbot- unti 1 iZhEtSC2 faci 1 ities we t-P pad 1 ocked in 1954, it is estimated that more than 12 million would--be Page 2 Americans passed Chrough Ellis Island- -r-o many it was known the Isle of Hope - OtLhESb-S referred to it as the Isle o-f= Tears, bO-lLh for the r-ending separations that sometimes odcurred here as we1 1 as -FOt- the -t;earfu 1 t-eunions -t&hat. often took place on ILt-lSStS FE?W acres - e * As YOU al 1 know, the Nati onal Pat-k Service in conjunctions with the Stalz.ue 0-f l-i berty Foundat;ion have been engaged in the magni-Ficent work o-f= t-ester-i ng o-f the Great Hall to create what will be the Ellis Island Nati onal Monument _ This Monument that we See beh-i nd us will be one of the? 1 asti ng 1 andmarks OF the historical geography of our- nat-ion- I sal ute the National Park Service Page 3 and the Statue of L-i berty Foundation fOt- the-i r vision and craftsmanshi p i n creating a living museum that wi 11 keep -Future genet-ati ons oT- Americans in touctl with past ones _ l-he special reason -i=Ol- our visit here today is another set of rOO-LS -t;hat are i mbedded deep in the so-i 1 o-f this island -- the roots of the United StaGes Pub1 i c Heal th Service- This year marks the Centennial . of an act signed by President Grovet- Cleveland `. to establ i sh the Commi ssi oned Corps O-F the Mat-i ne Hospital Service." Fat- almost a century prior to tha% date, tihe Federal government had provided medical cat-e to merchant seaman. This activity was strengthqened in the 12370s by the fortia-ti on of the Mat-i ne Page 4 Hospital Set-v-ice, which brought uni-forms, met-it appointments and promotions, and career set-vice wi th mob-i 1 -i-by to the mat-i ne hospital enterpr-i se _ MY predecessors of the period. however + foresaw the need For a broad--based Pub1 i c Heal th Set-v-ice- -I-O accompl i sh this, they sought to have the r-e-for-ms tl-lsy had implemented wr i1tten into law -- a goal achieved in 1889 by the passage of i=he Commissioned Corps Act that put the. off-i cers 0-F the Marine HQspitial Set-vice on a foot-i ng with the-i r counterparts i n the ( At-my and the Navy _ l-he Marine Hospital Ser-vi ce was # thus poised to become involved in bt-oader- issues o-f health in America -- a step it o took with the assignment of medical Page 5 of-ficers to the new i mmi grati on facility on Ellis Island in 1892. Few in number dt f-i r-St. the sta-ffi ng at El 1 is Is1 and grew steadily, r-each-i ng a high poi n-L when some 350 employees of what had been t-ena.med the Pub1 i c Heal -t;h Servi cze worked here in the years prior to World War 1, `-- . ___ PHS work on El 1 is Island was divided bc3tween "The L-i&e'* , examining new1 y arrived immi grants; the staffing of the 650 beds in the two hospitals bui 1-L -l=Ot- the care of sick arrivals; and boardi ng incoming ships to inspect cargos and crews - Vi rtual 1 y every commissioned of-f-icer of that epoch served a tour on Ellis Island, Medical training took place in the hospitals. Graduates of El 1 is Page 6 Island were assi gned abroad to screen emi grants prior -to depareure, Pioneering work in mental hygiene and i ntell i gence test-i ng took place here. as did the development of techniques l=Ot- the surgical t3reatment of tr-achoma that we t-e 1 ater appl ied bY -Ltlhe PHS throughout the3 American South - * Following World War1 ' immigration policy became more3 t-estr-i cti ve and eventiual 1 y the plane rep 1 aced the ship as the principal means of immi gt-ation. Al though the PHS maintained the hospital -`mFaci 1 ities on the Island unt-i 1 1951, the period o-f titanic immigration ended short1 y after the Fi rst World War - For the PHS ., though, the real i ty Page 7 and the memory of El 1 is Is1 and remai ns alive today _ It was here -that our professional forbearers moved out of the marine hospitals and began a pattern of response to the health crises of the nati on that remains `TLhe ha1 lmark of the Pub1 i c Health Set-vi Ce today - l-he PHS, in general, and the commi ssi oned corps, in h parti cul ar, has been re"sp0nd-i ng t0 acute nati onal needs evet- since -- inc%luding the heal et-7 care of Nat-i ve Americans, the i nvesti gation of legionnaires' d i sease and toxic shock syndrome, the treatment of refugees; and batt 1 e agai nst AIDS - It was here that the medical of-ficet-s o-f the PHS 1 abored to bri ng science to bear on the human condition in a systematic Page 8 and equitable fashion, l-he -f-i r-st democracy that -t.hcS i mmi grant was to experience in the New .Worl d was medical democracy at the hands 0F the Pub1 i c Heal th Service on El 1 is Island, And i-b was hers that ILhEz? PHS ma'de its presence known to -t&he country as a whole -- a viabi 1 ity it has not abahdoned since- In several days, I wi 11 formal 1 y StSp down as you t- Surgeon General - As I do that, I take with me many fond memories of the peep 1 e with whom I have worked over khese past eight "-- . -.- years and the goals we have reached together. I al so take with me the pride o-f having served this country and Page 9 all of its people, I share that pride with the men and women 0-F the I= H- S---. -0 -F earl ier years who stafFed thSSE? buildings, who traversed this harbor many, many times. and who helped to build today ' s Un i ted States _ 1 sal uta -t;hem and thei r work - And I sal ute the Pub1 i c Health Set-vice they helped build ---_ and that I have been pr-iv-i lc3geci to serve rn Thank you -