Official State of Rhode Island website

Governor Dan McKee RI 2030 Plan Charting a Course for the Future of the Ocean State

Supporting Physical Health

  • Received a $4.4 million grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s State Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) program to implement evidence-based strategies to reduce health disparities related to food access, nutrition security, healthy food procurement, breastfeeding, Farm to Early Care and Education, and access to bike/pedestrian friendly communities. This grant is designed to improve physical activity, nutrition, and wellness initiatives; it was awarded to only 17 states.
  • Completed a 2023-2028 Rhode Island Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL) Strategic Plan. This document provides a roadmap for all Rhode Islanders, regardless of age, race, ethnicity, religion, physical ability, or sexual orientation, to live their most optimal life through culturally appropriate, nourishing, and affordable foods and safe places to recreate.
  • Aligned Rhode Island’s regulations for PFAS with the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) final rule and mitigated PFAS levels in water systems by entering into consent agreements with systems that have exceedances.
  • Reduced youth tobacco use rates in Rhode Island by enhancing statewide tobacco control policies, expanding community-based education and outreach, and promoting youth engagement in tobacco prevention efforts.
    • Oversaw a substantial decline in Electronic Nicotine-Delivery Systems (ENDS) products (i.e., vapes) use among high school students from 30.1 percent in 2019 to 16.5 percent in 2023, according to the 2023 RIDOH Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS).
    • Placed several school-based initiatives in 2024 to address youth vaping and help encourage students to quit using tobacco and nicotine products, including e-cigarettes.
  • Increased the cigarette tax by 25 cents in FY 2025 to discourage smoking and reduce tobacco-related health risks.
  • Emerged as a national leader in screening, early diagnosis, and treatment for lung cancer, according to a 2024 report by the American Lung Association.
    • Ranked first in the nation for early diagnosis at 34.7 percent. Nationally, only 27.4 percent of cases are diagnosed at an early stage when the survival rate is much higher.
    • Ranked first in the nation for lung cancer screening at 28.6 percent. Lung cancer screening with annual low-dose CT scans for those at high risk can reduce the lung cancer death rate by up to 20 percent. Nationally, only 16 percent of those at high risk were screened.
    • Ranked second in the nation for survival at 35.2 percent. The national rate of people alive five years after a lung cancer diagnosis is 28.4 percent.
    • Ranked fourth in the nation for surgery at 25.4 percent. Lung cancer can often be treated with surgery if it is diagnosed at an early stage and has not spread. Nationally, 20.7 percent of cases underwent surgery.
  • Strengthened the enforcement of the flavored ENDS products ban by transferring licensing and oversight to the Department of Revenue’s Division of Taxation and implemented a tax on ENDS products comparable to those imposed on other tobacco products as part of the FY 2025 budget.
    • Secured an additional $1.9 million in federal funding in 2023 for the RIDOH Tobacco Control Program. The funding came from two sources, ASTHO and CDC/OSH, to address menthol and other flavored tobacco/nicotine product use to advance health equity in the state.
  • Continued to work closely with community partners to help disseminate information about cancer screening programs and to promote breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening.
    • Created promotional materials for breast and cervical cancer that are specific to geographic areas with disparate screening outcomes, with plans to work on developing similar materials for colorectal cancer in CY 2025.
  • Provided high quality, affordable reproductive health services, including contraceptive care, pregnancy testing, and preconception care to over 25,000 Rhode Islanders in CY 2023.
    • Facilitated training and technical assistance to community-based partners to improve knowledge of, and comfort for, reproductive health counseling and increase awareness of available services.
    • Ranked in the top five in CY 2024 for best-performing health system for women, per the Commonwealth Fund.
  • Continued to support reproductive freedom by signing the Equality in Abortion Coverage Act in 2023 to guarantee abortion services are covered by private insurance and Medicaid, removing financial barriers for low-income women. This legislation repealed the ban on using state funds for abortion services for Medicaid recipients and state employees, thereby expanding access to abortion coverage for nearly 90,000 individuals in the state.
  • Committed to vetoing any anti-abortion legislation and worked with stakeholders to safeguard and expand access to women’s reproductive healthcare throughout the state.
  • Developed a Dental Workforce Strategic Plan to help ensure a robust and diverse dental workforce in Rhode Island.
  • Launched a new statewide Rhode Island Rental Registry, requiring all landlords in Rhode Island to submit information about a rental properties’ adherence to housing standards and health laws (including Certificates of Lead Conformance) and granting RIDOH the authority to impose civil fines and penalties for noncompliance.
Gov McKee signing a document

The Road to RI 2030: Physical Health Goals

  • Increase physical activity among youth by supporting programs that encourage kids to be active for at least 60 minutes a day, fostering healthier lifestyles statewide.
  • As a metric of the HEAL Strategic Plan, increase the number of cities and towns that pass Green and Complete Streets Ordinances from three in 2023 to six in 2024.
  • Leverage the HEAL Plan and other health initiatives to reduce the obesity rate in Rhode Island, currently estimated at 30 percent.
  • Increase the reach of the Rhode Island Nicotine Helpline to achieve the North American Quitline Consortium Quality Benchmark of 6 percent, to support evidence-based quit attempts for all Rhode Islanders.
  • Engage at least three new community partners annually to connect with the Statewide Tobacco Network workgroups in learning how to implement culturally sensitive educational programming and build local coalitions to educate on tobacco and nicotine health risks, reduce youth initiation, and provide local quit resources.
  • Reduce current e-cigarette use in youth from 16.5 percent (2023 YRBS) to 10.1 percent by 2030.
  • Increase access to reproductive healthcare to decrease unintended pregnancies and ensure healthy births by providing training to implement routine pregnancy intention screening to facilitate reproductive health visits.
  • Increase implementation of routine pregnancy intention screening at RIDOH-funded Title X family planning agencies to screen at least 70 percent of all family planning patients served.
  • Expand the range of birthing options that center culture, language, race, and individual preferences from 2 current options to at least 3 options.
  • Continue to reduce PFAS levels in Rhode Island’s drinking water supplies and assist water suppliers with remediation plans to quickly reduce and remove PFAS.
  • Implement a RIDOH continuous quality improvement project to increase lead screening rates among children and update the lead rental registry to prevent and reduce childhood lead poisonings.
  • Increase the use of dental services among children by promoting school-based services and promoting oral health integration into maternal and child health primary care sites.
  • Increase the number of dental professionals working in Rhode Island through dental externship opportunities between neighboring dental schools and dental clinics.
  • Increase cancer screenings, including: (1) colorectal cancer screening among all at- risk Rhode Island men and women from 80.8 percent to 85.0 percent by 2030, (2) breast cancer screening among all at-risk Rhode Islanders from 77.9 percent to 85.0 percent by 2030, and (3) cervical cancer screening among all at-risk Rhode Islanders from
    79.3 percent to 85.0 percent by 2030.
  • Increase current annual Women’s Cancer Screening Program utilization to pre-COVID levels, from an estimated 1,500 uninsured women to 2,800 uninsured women by July 1, 2025.