To the editor:

As I watch the national news and see other states with coronavirus cases surging, I think about how lucky we are here to have a community that has banded together during this crisis here in Rhode Island.

We have leaders committed to putting politics aside in favor of public health and first responders who are there, every time, without fail. Our doctors, nurses, and health care professionals are nothing short of heroes, saving lives daily and without glamor. As their role in helping our state is spotlighted, I also want to acknowledge the work of the folks in the background, who support those on the front lines, like healthcare distributors, who are working behind the scenes daily to provide patients, hospitals, and other caregivers with needed medications and supplies. Their continued work through this pandemic has sustained our hospitals’ ability to treat patients—both with COVID-19 and without. Absent any of these components in our leadership, public safety an56d healthcare system, from beginning to end, we wouldn’t be nearly as equipped as we are today to handle the crisis.

As always, I am proud to be a Rhode Islander and now a proud Warren resident too.

Douglas Gablinske

Pokanoket Trail