Rhode Island Governor's Newsletter December 2025
In this Issue:
- Governor's Welcome
- Chapter News
- National ACP Recognition
- Chapter Voluntary Contributions
- Mentorship Zone
- From National ACP
Kwame O. Dapaah-Afriyie, MBchB, FACP, ACP Governor
Governor's Welcome
I hope you all had an enjoyable Thanksgiving with your families despite the challenges confronting us locally, nationally and internationally.
This has been a challenging year for the entire healthcare community. Poignantly, the surge in disinformation and misinformation has gained a foothold in the corridors of power. Unwarranted decisions and initiatives with negative implications on the practice and future of evidence-based medicine made by some healthcare leaders in Washington, D.C. have left us dumbfounded! ACP and other professional organizations have worked together in taking unprecedented steps to forfend the consequences of some of these initiatives.
We can be thankful for the privilege of helping our patients in making sound health care decisions amid all these challenges. The future is not all glim and doom; I sincerely believe there is still light at the end of the tunnel. Let us continue steadfastly upholding our professional oath and love for humanity.
At the state level, the primary care crisis and associated increasing limited access to healthcare have been highlighted in many fora but concrete effective measures are yet to be taken to address this multifaceted issue. The financial wellbeing and long-term operational stability of CharterCARE hospitals continue to be an issue of major concern. State leaders are reportedly in discussions with current owners and other entities to salvage what could become a catastrophic crisis in view of the soniferous alarm raised by the failure of Steward Healthcare operations in Massachusetts. The recent combined ACP/RIMS educational program afforded us the opportunity to learn more about the increasing role and operations of Private Equity investment firms in healthcare delivery. Dr Erin Brown's lecture provided us with an insightful but cautionary perspective.
A number of our senior colleagues have retired this year and a few more will be doing so in the next several months. Diane Siedlecki and some of her colleagues retired in the aftermath of the Anchor Medical Associates debacle. Diane was the recipient of the 2025 RI Medical Women's Association (RIMWA) Woman of the Year award. Yul Ejnes, who served in many leadership positions in ACP and ABIM and was the recipient of ACP's 2024 Alfred Stengel Memorial Award for outstanding service to ACP, is retiring at the end of this year. There are a few more planned retirements in June 2026, notably Dr Lou Rice, the Chief of Department of Medicine at Alpert Medical School. These esteemed individuals and many others have in their various roles held high the banner of our noble profession; they have run their race and are now passing the baton to a much younger generation. Let's resolve to help one another to maintain the ideals of our profession and more importantly encourage our colleagues and students amid these unprecedented times. Our retired and retiring colleagues are looking to us to take required steps to maintain our mission and not allow painful disappointing moments to distort our purpose.
It is my hope and expectation that 2026 will afford us more opportunities to enhance professional growth and advance patient care. Have a blessed holiday season!
Chapter News
Committee Highlights:Health and Public Policy
Under the leadership of John Mark Ryan, this committee has forged a closer relationship with RI Medical Society (RIMS) to enhance advocacy initiatives in our state. After the insightful town hall meeting with Rhode Island Attorney General, Peter Neronha, which was held in May 2025, ACP and RIMS again worked collaboratively to highlight the increasing role and effects of Private equity investment in healthcare delivery. This meeting was held on 11/05/2025, and the talk which was titled “Consolidation and Private Equity Investment in Health Care: State Policy Options / RI Effects of H.R.1”, was delivered by Dr. Erin Brown who is at Brown University School of Public Health's Center for Advancing Health Policy through Research (CAHPR). Below are 2 pictures taken at the meeting.
Communication about additional collaborative programs with RIMS, and the National ACP Leadership Day advocacy program will be sent out in Jan 2026.
The Residents in our chapter actively engaged in this year's Help fight against breast cancer by participating in the annual Gloria Gemma 5K Run/Walk.
Congratulations to our new Governor-elect Designee!
It is a great pleasure and honor to announce that Jennifer Jeremiah, MD, FACP has been elected by the members of the Rhode Island Chapter to serve as Governor-elect. Dr. Jennifer Jeremiah will start her term as Governor-elect after the National ACP Annual Business Meeting on April 18, 2026.
Dr. Jennifer Jeremiah will take office as Governor in April of 2027. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Jennifer Jeremiah, and in thanking Dr. Mariah Stump,( who still serves on our Governor's Council) for her candidacy.
Governor's Advisory Council
Our next Governor's Advisory Council meeting will be held on 12/09/2025.
Annual Meeting
Annual planning committee co-chairs have finalized the program for our next annual scientific meeting which is scheduled for 03/11/2026. I appreciate the input and assistance of all members who have agreed to be speakers, judges and/or assume other critical roles to ensure the success of this program
Doctor's Dilemma
Our chapter's Doctors' Dilemma competition to select representatives for the 2026 national meeting in San Francisco was held on Dec 1 at the Alpert Medical School. I am happy to announce that the team from Landmark Medical Center will again be representing our chapter at the national competition. It is my hope and expectation that this team will build upon the impressive performance of the 2025 team. Below is a picture of Glenn Fort, the residency program director with his team of residents.
National ACP Recognition
Master of ACP (MACPs) are Fellows who have been selected because of “integrity, impact in practice or in medical research, or other attainments in science or in the art of medicine.” MACPs are highly accomplished individuals demonstrating impact in practice, leadership, health policy, or in medical research.
Congratulations to Dr Louis B. Rice who has been duly acknowledged and is now a Master of the American College of Physicians.
Congratulations to our 3 new Fellows of ACP:
Drs Carla T. Williams, Syed A. Naqvi and Sanjay Poudel
Chapter Voluntary Contributions
The Voluntary Contribution site for our chapter is now live. National ACP has been working on this for all chapters' websites for several months. Those who visit the chapter website (members and nonmembers) will now be able to view the page and access the donation link. Below is the QR code. We are a 501(C)(3) organization – a tax-exempt non-profit organization recognized under Internal Revenue code) so all donations are tax-deductible.
Mentorship Zone
What are we learning? Who are we learning from? Who are we transferring insights to?
Iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
The one who waters will also be watered.
In this newsletter, we get to learn from Paul McKenney, a longtime member of our medical community who has served dutifully as a Clinician, Clinical Educator and many other roles. Paul still precepts medical residents at Providence VA Medical Center.
Brief background
My name is Paul F. McKenney MD. I'm a native Rhode Islander (to the extreme - when I finished Active Duty, I bought my parents' house in Old Buttonwoods, Warwick. So, I live in the house I grew up in).
I graduated from Hendricken High School, the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, and Georgetown Medical School. Tuitions were beginning to skyrocket post-Vietnam, so many classmates took military or Public Health scholarships.
I was commissioned in the Army (Medical Service Corps, then Medical Corps) and did my residency at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington, arriving with my wife and infant daughter just weeks after nearby Mount St. Helens erupted. I had great clinical training.
I was then assigned to a nearly-new hospital at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, supporting the elite 101st Airborne (Air Assault) Division.
We (Internal Medicine Physicians) provided complete care, including performing procedures such as endoscopies, liver biopsies (blind, based on percussion), Swan-Ganz catheterizations and temporary pacemaker insertions!
After 2 years, I transferred to Cutler Army Hospital at Fort Devens in Massachusetts.
After completing my Army payback time, I separated (but remained in Reserves) and opened a General Internal Medicine practice at Kent Hospital in Warwick RI. In the pre-Hospitalist days, we did office and inpatient practice, including covering the ER.
I was reactivated for Active-Duty Army Service in Desert Shield/Desert Storm, spending several months treating mainly Iraqi POWs with the 300th Army Field Hospital in the Saudi Arabian desert.
After resuming my RI practice, I became increasingly interested in Quality and PHO (Physician Health Organization) care, serving as a part-time Medical Director with Health Advantage, Harvard Pilgrim and Tufts Health Plans, and finally moved to a Medical Director/Assistant CMO (Chief medical Officer) position at Kent Hospital and Care New England.
In 2016, I returned to Primary Care practice at Providence VA Medical Center, including precepting Brown residents in Primary Care.
I officially retired in 2021 but continue intermittent precepting at the Providence VA. Medical Center.
Why did you choose to specialize in Internal Medicine?
I chose Internal Medicine following in my father's footsteps - he was one of the original internal medicine physicians when Kent Hospital was founded, eventually becoming Medical Director. I worked as a Kent ER orderly during high school and college vacations, getting to see and interact with many specialties - it was invaluable learning.
What are the 2-3 major factors that have helped you in this profession?
I enjoyed the relationships with both patients and colleagues as an internal medicine physician. I was also resilient and open to new approaches to medical practice - I learned the pros and cons of managed care and EHRs/EMRs and was able to retain the enjoyment of clinical practice.
What has kept you in this profession amid the challenges?
I continued, despite the challenges, for all the reasons above. I disagree strongly with the many physicians who, in surveys, would advise young people not to enter the medical field.
It remains a rewarding and honorable profession, if approached as a true profession and vocation.
In watching and talking with my father, my focus was never money (a good thing, as I sometimes struggled financially) - rather, it was the enjoyment and satisfaction of doing continuing patient care….and yet I and my family have been blessed with more than most people, and I am very grateful for the chance to become a doctor.
From National ACP
Update to Medical Societies Lawsuit Against HHS, Secretary Kennedy for Unlawful, Unilateral Vaccine Changes
ACP joined other medical societies to file an updated complaint to American Academy of Pediatrics v. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The original complaint was filed in July to defend vaccine policy and put an end to the assault on science, public health, and evidence-based medicine. The updated complaint asks the court to require Secretary Kennedy to reconstitute the ACIP with all new members in good faith, in accordance with the law, and to assure that ACIP functions in compliance with the ACIP's charter. ACIP members were not appointed based on credentials or expertise, and failed to capture a range of perspectives such that the committee is “fairly balanced” and not “inappropriately influenced” by the appointing official.
The recent changes have led to confusion, increased vaccine hesitancy, and barriers to care. Patients, including pregnant women and children, are being denied access to vaccines, and providers are facing ethical and legal dilemmas about how to counsel and care for their patients. The goal of the lawsuit remains to restore trust in the vaccine recommendation process and ensure that families and communities are protected from preventable diseases.
Actions on BOG Resolutions, November 8-9, 2025, Board of Regents Meeting
Adopted with Amendments for Implementation:
9-F24. Revising ACP's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Policy to Promote an Age-Friendly Professional Home and Create Engagement Opportunities for Senior and Retired Physicians
1-F25. Mitigate the Harms of Immediate Results Release
2-F25. Sustaining and Expanding 988 Services.
The Board of Regents approved, as a Consent Calendar, the recommendations regarding the disposition of each of the following resolutions recommended for adoption at the Fall 2025 Board of Governors Meeting:
BOG Recommended for Adoption/Implementation with Amendments:
Resolution 9-F24. Revising ACP's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Policy to Promote an Age Friendly Professional Home and Create Engagement Opportunities for Senior and Retired Physicians (RRC Referral Recommendation: Chapters Subcommittee with input from Membership Committee)
RESOLVED, that the Board of Regents revise ACP's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policy to add “and across career stages” to its DEI statement: “Enhance inclusion and engagement of members from diverse backgrounds and across career stages in all chapter activities,” to promote the concept of an age-friendly professional home; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Board of Regents expand low- or no-cost resources and programs (e.g. multichapter Town Halls, webinars or low-cost forums) to amplify the voices of senior, retired, and emeritus physicians; and create opportunities to incentivize and recognize Chapters for promoting programming targeting late career physicians.
Resolution 1-F25. Mitigate the Harms of Immediate Results Release (RRC Referral Recommendation: Medical Practice and Quality Committee for implementation with input from Ethics, Professionalism, and Human Rights Committee and Medical Education staff).
RESOLVED, that the Board of Regents use existing policy and knowledge on the harms of immediate release of test results to create a toolkit for members to give them the knowledge they need to effectively advocate with testing facility administrators and regulatory organizations to implement the Cures Act in ways that reduce harms to patients and burdens to clinicians.
This toolkit should include:
- background information on the requirements and allowed exceptions;
- best practices on how to share results with patients so that healthcare systems, physicians (including those not directly in contact with patients), and other clinicians are all upholding their ethical duties while following the law;
- tools to advocate for these best practices within healthcare systems and organizations; and
- guidance on how to counsel and educate patients about potential pitfalls of immediate results release; and recommendations to involve non-physician staff in managing the burdens of this Act that currently fall to front-line physicians.
Resolution 2-F25. Sustaining and Expanding 988 Services (RRC Referral Recommendation: Health and Public Policy Committee with input from Medical Education staff)
RESOLVED, that the Board of Regents expand member educational support for the 988 services program; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Board of Regents collaborate with policymakers, healthcare organizations, and advocacy groups to advocate for national legislative and non-governmental efforts aimed at sustainable funding and expanding 988 services nationwide; and be it further
RESOLVED, that the Board of Regents endorse partnerships to further enhance 988 awareness, 59 infrastructure and service delivery.