Political Quotes

“Mr. President, on February 25, 1812, by an act of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the Rhode Island Medical Society was chartered. In short order, physicians in the State adopted bylaws and elected officers, becoming the eighth State medical society in the Nation. Over the past 200 years, the Rhode Island Medical Society has worked to fulfill its founding principle to consistently improve patient care. That principle is reflected in its many accomplishments in the field of public health. By 1852, just 40 years later, Rhode Island became the fourth State to collect, analyze, and publish birth, marriage, and death statistics on an annual basis. Soon after, it began distributing clinical papers of peers regarding public health trends and treatments. These early actions reflect a keen understanding of disease prevention and health promotion, as well as the collaborative nature of medicine. Since these early years, the Rhode Island Medical Society has advanced public health efforts that run the gamut from sanitation to vaccination. It was the second in the country to admit a female doctor. It also has played a role in the development of national health care policy, such as mental health parity, an effort to achieve fairness in the treatment of mental illness, which was fully realized in 2008 when the Mental Health Parity and Addition Equity Act was signed into law.…”