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No Smoking Complaint Form Download this form to file a complaint. Find out more about the Smokefree Public Place and Workplace Law.

updated January 9, 2009

Welcome to the Rhode Island Department of Health Website

Our Mission
is to prevent disease and to protect and promote the health and safety of the people of Rhode Island.

I Want To...	Online Services
Get a copy of a birth, death or marriage certificate Check nursing home quality scores Find out about local food recalls area Request Health Department information File a complaint against a health professional File a no-smoking complaint Quit Smoking	View Food Safety Inspection Reports Renew your Health Professional License Verify the license of a health professional Order educational materials online Download mailing lists and labels

Features

Hospital Conversions / Mergers Program
Hospital Conversions Act Initial Application on the Sale of the Rehabilitation Hospital of Rhode Island [Withdrawn 12/03/08]

Fire Safe Cigarette regulation status
The Fire Safe Cigarettes regulations implementation has been indefinitely postponed. Do not submit certifications at this time. Change in status will be posted on this site. Please check periodically. For more information contact: Jan Shedd, Team Lead for Health Promotion and Wellness (222-5927).

Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention Program Draft State Plan
The goal is to launch and sustain a statewide coordinated effort to prevent and control heart disease and stroke. The program is committed to furthering policies and systems that: sustain individual behavior change, enhance access to effective medical care, and improve health status with a special focus on the elimination of racial and ethnic disparities in heart disease and stroke prevention. See also: Stroke Task Force Report to the General Assembly

State HEALTH Laboratories: Laboratory Services 2007
This report was developed to provide a consolidated overview of the diverse laboratory services provided by the State Health Laboratories, a division of the Rhode Island Department of Health.

Food Safety Inspections
Health Department food safety inspection reports completed since January 2007 are available online for all retail establishments including restaurants, markets and health care facilities. These reports consist of all inspection types including routine and reinspections, illness investigations and preoperational inspections. Some inspections may not contain violations.

Health and Medical Headlines

Reuters Health
Yahoo Health
CDC
NIH
WHO

Reuters Health

Report shows U.S. only half ready for flu pandemic

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. states have made progress in stockpiling drugs and preparing to vaccinate people in case of a flu pandemic but are far behind in plans for the ensuing months of disruption, the government said on Thursday.

Republicans upset over children's health bill

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A push by congressional Democrats to make good on Barack Obama's pledge to provide millions more American children with health care coverage has Republicans accusing them of breaking the president-elect's promise of bipartisanship.

Use of sleep aids by young U.S. adults soars: study

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Use of prescription sleep aids nearly tripled among young adults between 1998 and 2006, according to a study released on Thursday by the healthcare business arm of Thomson Reuters.

Yahoo Health

High risk medical devices escaped close review (AP)

AP - Some medical devices for sensitive uses, from certain hip joints to a type of defibrillator, have won government approval without a close scientific review, congressional investigators said Thursday.

FDA pledges openness on gene-altered products (AP)

AP - Federal health officials Thursday pledged a new, open process for approving drugs and foods from genetically engineered animals.

DVD teaches autistic kids what a smile means (AP)

AP - It wasn't until Jude met Jenny that the 3-year-old autistic boy understood what happy people look like. Jenny, a green trolley car with a human face, had a furrowed brow when her wheel buckled and she got stuck on a track. But after being rescued by friends, she smiled broadly — and that's when something clicked for little Jude Baines.

CDC

CDC Recommends Shingles Vaccine

People age 60 and older should be vaccinated against shingles, or herpes zoster, a condition often marked by debilitating chronic pain...

New CDC Study Finds Arthritis Can be a Barrier for Adults Seeking to Manage Diabetes through Physical Activity

More than half of adults with diagnosed diabetes also have arthritis, a painful condition that can be a barrier to physical activityâ€”an important health strategy for managing diabetes...

Falls a Leading Cause of Injury-Related Emergency Department Visits for Infants Each Year, CDC Study Shows

Half of the estimated 328,500 infants 12 months of age or younger who were treated for injuries in hospital emergency departments each year from 2001 to 2004 were injured as a result of a fall, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

NIH

Hypothermia: A Cold Weather Risk for Older People

Older adults are especially vulnerable to hypothermia, which can be deadly if not treated quickly. The National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has some advice to help older people avoid hypothermia.

NIDA NewsScan #58

NewsScan #58 examines the latest findings in drug abuse risk, prevention, and treatment and the link between pregnant women and smoking, sexual risk behavior and teens not attending college, lofexidine and its effects on opioid withdrawal symptoms, dopamine and striatal synaptic plasticity, substance abusersâ€™ brain and its reaction to rewards, hormone processing in the brain and its relationship to drug abuse, defects in dopamine-regulating mechanism and cocaine-induced cellular stress and neural development. The National Institutes on Drug Abuse (NIDA) is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Drug Abusing Offenders Not Getting Treatment They Need in Criminal Justice System

The vast majority of prisoners who could benefit from drug abuse treatment do not receive it, despite two decades of research that demonstrate its effectiveness, according to researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National Institutes of Health.

WHO

WHO deplores the shelling of hospitals in Gaza

15 January 2009 -- WHO deplores the attack on Al Wafa and Al Fata Hospitals, and the Al Quds which is run by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society. WHO expresses deep concern about the serious implications on patients, medical staff, health infrastructure and the provision of critical health services.

Checklist helps reduce surgical complications, deaths

14 January 2009 -- In trials conducted in eight countries in WHO's six regions, the use of a simple surgical checklist developed by WHO has reduced the incidence of surgery-related deaths and complications by one third.

Health services close to collapse in Gaza

7 January 2009 -- The health services in Gaza, already depleted and fragile, are on the point of collapse if steps to support and protect them are not taken immediately. WHO has called for immediate improvement in the situation to make humanitarian health services accessible by the local people.

In the News

01/15/2009 13:15 EST

Flu Vaccination Is The Best Protection Against Antiviral-Resistant Flu Strains

01/14/2009 15:30 EST

Department of Health, Department of Elderly Affairs Issue Extreme Cold Advisory

01/14/2009 15:30 EST

Warming Centers as of 01/14/09, 3:30 p.m.

12/22/2008 15:15 EST

Cocoa Sold In Rhode Island Recalled Due To Melamine Contamination

12/18/2008 14:45 EST

Healthcare Licensee Verification To Go Paperless

12/16/2008 14:00 EST