Planning a post-war, mid-century hospital in Kent County Kent District Medical Society takes lead in planning memorial hospital

摘要

World War ll had just ended and the suburban explosion andburgeoning “Baby Boom” generation was in its nascent stages.In Kent County, plans for a hospital were taking shape. TheJanuary 1946 issue of the Rhode Island Medical Journal(RIMJ), published by the Rhode Island Medical Society (RIMS),supported the concept in an editorial, which stated:“With the City of Warwick and surrounding towns planningmemorials for returning veterans, it would appear that no finertribute could be planned than for each community to contributea unit to a Memorial Kent County Hospital for the improvementof health service to every citizen.”Editorials in subsequent RIMJ issues cited the demographicsof the County and the need for expanded medical care:“The excellent state highways that have enabled the cityworker to move his residence outside of the Greater Providencearea …The area to be serviced has grown in stature in recentyears. An estimated 60,000 persons reside within the county,with a projected growth of 100,000 in five years. It is encouragingthat the city of Warwick and surrounding towns have acceptedthe responsibility for providing a hospital local to Kent County.”Kent County was located between hospitals in Providenceand the 62-bed South County Hospital in Wakefield, and RIMJeditorials called for this “vital extension of medical care in thestate’s second most populous county.” In addition, the developmentof voluntary hospitalization insurance and the “35,000subscribers to Blue Cross in Kent County” was a positive factor.At the same time, the Kent County Medical Society was experiencinggrowth in membership. Its 34 physicians provided “afine nucleus for the staffing of the hospital,” one RIMJ editorialpointed out.