Gratitude Stories from Newport Hospital

For about a week in January of 2022, Hillary Dutton was experiencing what she described as “subtle abdominal discomfort” on her lower right side. Even though the pain grew gradually in intensity, Hillary said it never got excruciating or unbearable for her. Still, at the encouragement of friends, she decided to visit the ED at Newport Hospital just to be on the safe side.

For nearly a decade, Dave has been a heart patient at Newport Hospital and has experienced firsthand the world-class, lifesaving care its staff provides right here on the island. “It’s easy to support them,” he adds. “Everyone is polite, courteous, and knowledgeable and it’s like a homecoming every time I visit."

It was October of 2022, and Andrea Blair’s life was about to change in a sudden and cruel way. “I wasn’t feeling well for a few days,” she remembers, “and one morning I woke up with tingling in my feet and having trouble walking…then my legs just gave out on me.”

It was May of 2022 and Mary Heath was at Newport Hospital for her annual breast cancer screening. At the time, she assumed the mammogram would come back negative, as they always had. “But this time was different,” she recalls. “My radiologist noticed something that gave her pause. I remember her saying ‘I don’t like the looks of this’.”