'A doctor who wanted to know his patients as his neighbors'

WARWICK — More than 100 friends, colleagues, community members and family attended the unveiling on May 30 of a portrait of Dr. Jerome Quint at Mount Alverno Center.
Quint died Feb. 12, 2014.
"Quint was a doctor - a surgeon at St. Anthony Community Hospital in Warwick - for the better part of his adult life," the writer of his obituary began. "But to describe him simply as 'a doctor' would be to scratch only the surface of who this man was.
'What made them tick' "The essence of Quint began, perhaps, with his intense, enormous curiosity - curiosity about how things work, about why things happen, about who people are and what makes them tick. When Quint turned his attention on you, it was all consuming. You were in Quint's spotlight, and you suddenly felt the need to bare your soul to this man whose piercing blue eyes could bore into the center of your being.
"His patients often became his friends. They went from his surgical table to his kitchen table where Quint and his wife Terry fed them, talked with them and listened. Especially listened. Quint wanted to know what other people thought about … well, just about everything. He especially wanted to understand people who had differing opinions from his own, and he always allowed for the possibility that he was wrong-headed in his thinking.
"But he rarely was."
At the ceremony, Dr. Mary Leahy, CEO of Bon Secours Charity Health System, Dr. Mark Madis, medical director, Dr. Francis Winski, president of the St. Anthony Community Hospital Medical Staff, George Beach, superintendent of the New York State Police, his wife Terry Quint and Quint's son and two daughters spoke of the man they loved, worked with and laughed with.
Quint was chief of surgery and then chief of staff at St. Anthony. Later, he became chairman of the hospital Foundation Board of Directors, which he served with the same commitment and vigor that he demonstrated in everything he touched.
'My friend, my doctor'“Not only was he a brilliant physician, but his lifetime of love for his patients, our hospital and the community is the reason he is being honored today," Leahy said in her remarks. "Jerry could have pursued a career at a large academic medical center but chose to be a part of this community instead. He wanted to know his patients as his neighbors and that’s why so many called him my friend instead of my doctor.
“Jerry’s special bond with his patients went beyond treating them at the bedside and in the operating room," she added. "He held their hands and reassured them and spent countless hours on the phone helping patients, friends of patients and even strangers.
“I will always miss his wit, his compassion and his passion for our hospital," Leahy concluded. "But his impact on the community will live on forever in our hearts.”