to foster research, educational exchanges
KINGSTON, R.I. — December 18, 2001 — The University of Rhode Island and Bradley Hospital have formed a partnership to foster collaborative research, educational and service internships and other activities to benefit patients at Bradley and students, faculty and staff at both institutions.
“I serve on the board of directors at Bradley Hospital, and I know firsthand the quality of care the dedicated professionals provide in the nation’s leading psychiatric hospital for children,” said URI President Robert L. Carothers. “I am very, very happy that we are expanding existing collaborations.”
“This collaboration is an example of Bradley Hospitals commitment to educating the mental health professionals of the future,” said Bradley Hospital President Daniel Wall. “On the research end of things this partnership could lead to advances in mental health treatment.”
W. Grant Willis, URI professor and Psychology Department chair, said there have long been informal relationships between the nation’s oldest children’s psychiatric hospital and URI.
“This agreement formalizes our relationship, and will greatly enhance the wonderful opportunities we want to provide for our students,” Willis said. Ann Varna Garis, director of URI’s Psychological Consultation Center, said it’s a natural connection, especially since Bradley is proceeding with plans to build a school in South Kingstown.
In addition to cementing relationships between Bradley and URI’s Psychology Department, the partnership could lead to greater roles at Bradley for URI’s Colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy and Human Science and Services.
Founded in 1931, Emma Pendletown Bradley Hospital is the nations first psychiatric hospital devoted exclusively to children and adolescents. Today it remains the only such hospital in Rhode Island.
As a psychiatric center, Bradley Hospital is recognized as a national resource for the treatment of troubled children. It provides a full continuum of care for young people from infancy to age 22.
As an affiliate of Brown Medical School, Bradley has established itself as a national center for training and research in child and adolescent psychiatry. It is a private, not-for-profit hospital and operates the Bradley School, a fully certified special education school.
Bradley employs full, part-time and per diem employees, and on any given day has 261 children under its care.
For Information: Dave Lavallee 401-874-2116, Eric White 401-444-7480