Blog

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend a reception welcoming Todd Flaherty, the new director of the College Crusade (www.thecollegecrusade.org)—a local nonprofit aimed at curbing dropout rates and promoting college attendance through mentoring and scholarships.

I enjoyed meeting the advisors who work in middle and high schools to help students succeed in school and prepare for college. The mentoring offered as students deal with both the challenges of growing up and of excelling in school is vital. When a student reaches college and succeeds there, a world of opportunities opens up.

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This week I spoke at a conference at Women & Infants Hospital on women’s health research, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. The ultimate goal: to get women to incorporate valuable health research outcomes into their daily lives.

Women made up the majority of the room where I spoke. That’s encouraging, because it’s critical to get more women entering health professions, leading research and taking on health policy roles that will make a difference...

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Prevention, prevention, prevention.

That was the message about H1N1 flu from Dr. David Gifford, the state’s director of health, at the Emergency Management Advisory Council meeting I called last week, which brought together federal, state and local emergency responders.

At this point, the H1N1 threat appears to be less serious than thought in the spring—it will be widespread but less intense. That said, the state department of health has met with schools...

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Friday morning I left the house and, for the first time in several months, went back inside to grab a fleece. Fall is here. The kids are back in school. The Red Sox are (hopefully) headed for the playoffs. And tonight Tom Brady steps back on the field in Foxboro. I love fall.

Summer is great in Rhode Island—the beach, the ocean breeze, the slower pace as people take time off. But although I enjoy it, I can’t wait for fall to come. Labor Day is my New Year’s....

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Last night I was at the Capitol as the president reached out to Americans—after a month of loud, often confusing debate at public meetings and in the press—and spoke about health care reform.

I was honored to attend the speech as the guest of Congressman Langevin. I watched the members of Congress and the cabinet gather, the cheering as President Obama entered the room, the common applause during some parts of the speech and the clear partisan divide at other...

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With the passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy, we’ve lost so much, but perhaps what is felt most acutely at this particular moment is our loss of a long-time national leader and tireless champion of health care reform. It’s now up to all of us to see health care reform through. We can do so both by living up to the values behind his belief in health care reform—that quality health care coverage should be a fundamental right, not a privilege—and also by remembering his...

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