Delaware
90 in 90: Mike Quaranta, Delaware State Chamber of Commerce
Over the course of my career, I’ve discovered several famous quotes or passages that have guided me and my thinking.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal…”
Mike Quaranta | PHOTO COURTESY OF KATIE TABELING
This is the first sentence of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. If you repeat this out loud to yourself every morning before you start your day, you’ll be amazed how clearly you can see things that others try to make cloudy.
When you extend your hand, do it out of humility and for humanity. When you speak, say what you mean, and mean what you say.
Be kind, but be very, very clear with others. Being vague or duplicitous is not an asset.
“When the world is storm driven and the bad that happens and the worst that threatens are so urgent as to shut out everything else from view, then we need to know all the strong fortresses of the spirit which men have built through the ages.”
In 1942, when German U-Boats were destroying our oil tankers off the coast of Massachusetts and New Jersey, and half of our Navy was destroyed at Pearl Harbor, and it was unclear if the Nazi war machine could be stopped, Edith Hamilton wrote this quote in the preface to her book, “The Greek Way.” There will be difficult times at work or in our personal lives when you’ll need to summon up all your experience and training, and lean upon every lesson learned throughout your life, to be at your very best.
“We’re all entitled to our own opinions; however, we’re not entitled to our own set of facts.”
Former U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said this in a debate on the floor of the U.S. Senate. I will never forget it. We live on a very large planet, and there is a lot of noise out there. You need to be a very discerning consumer of information to make wise decisions.
Thomas Paine is quoted as saying, “A real man smiles in times of trouble, gathers strength from distress and grows brave by reflection.”
Listen, learn, take it all in and grow wise.
Every one of us needs to give serious thought to running for elective office.
I raised my hand twice and took an oath as a city councilman and then as a mayor. You don’t have to make a career out of elective office, in fact, I’d strongly recommend against doing that. But if all of us never raise our hand, step up and try, then we get what we get.
Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.”
Sometimes people do things so absurd, that by reacting, you legitimize or elevate their words or actions. Be disciplined and say nothing.
Step back, gather yourself and whatever facts you can, and keep perspective.
I think the greatest of all leadership characteristics one can possess is perspective.
“Tomorrow,” I say, “I will call on Jim, Just to show that I’m thinking of him.” But tomorrow comes–and tomorrow goes, And the distance between us grows and grows. Around the corner! –yet miles away . . . “Here’s a telegram, sir . . . Jim died today.” And that’s what we get, and deserve in the end: Around the corner, a vanished friend.”
Take a couple of moments to reach out to a family member or friend you have not checked in on for quite some time. The poem Around the Corner, by Charles Hanson Towne reminds us, sadly, what happens when we don’t. I highly encourage you to take the time to read the entirety of this short poem.
“Go in peace.”
My wish for all.
Mike Quaranta is the president of the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce.
Thomas Jefferson University is opening a regional campus of its Sidney Kimmel Medical College in Delaware, an effort that will result in the state’s first medical school.
Jefferson beat out three other bidders to establish the four-year program in partnership with the state. The other bidders were the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, the consulting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Ponce Health Sciences University in Puerto Rico, Spotlight Delaware reported.
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The inaugural class of 40 medical students will begin instruction in July 2028. Initially, the campus will be based at the University of Delaware in Newark, with Jefferson faculty providing instruction. A permanent home for the campus is still being finalized, the Inquirer reported.
The medical students will receive 18 months of preclinical training on campus before receiving clinical training from healthcare providers in Delaware’s southern counties, where the state’s physician shortage is most deeply felt. That shortage is compounded by an aging population, Delaware officials said.
“Jefferson is committed to being part of the solution to Delaware’s physician shortage,” Jefferson CEO Dr. Joseph Cacchione said in a statement. “We are proud to help build a future where every Delawarean has access to the care they deserve. Jefferson is all in.”
The school’s creation is being supported by $157.4 million from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Delaware is one of three states without a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program. Since the late 1960s, Jefferson and the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine have reserved seats for Delaware students.
“Sidney Kimmel Medical College has trained generations of physicians for more than 200 years, more than any other medical college in the country,” Said Ibrahim, dean of Sidney Kimmel Medical College, said in a statement. “It is a privilege to bring our mission to Delaware’s patients and communities.”
Jefferson has announced several expansions recently. The university is establishing a full-time doctor of nursing practice-nurse anesthesia program and several online graduate programs at the Lehigh Valley Health Network Center for Healthcare Education in Lehigh County. It also is opening a satellite respiratory therapy lab at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown.
Delaware officials said medical students will start their classroom instruction at UD and then do their clinical training at offices and health care systems in Kent and Sussex counties, where the shortage of doctors is most acute.
However, ChristianaCare, which has its own partnership with Jefferson, is not participating. The state’s largest health care system was part of Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine’s unsuccessful bid to operate the school. In a joint statement from ChristianaCare and PCOM, the two organizations expressed disappointment with not being part of the consortium of higher education institutions and healthcare organizations.
“The path forward raises genuine questions about whether the school’s goals can be fully realized without ChristianaCare’s meaningful participation in its clinical training mission,” it said. “The success of any four-year medical program depends not just on an academic institution, but on a true and committed partnership with its clinical partners — one built on shared mission, mutual investment and trust developed over time.”
Students in the first class can get their tuition subsidized, covering all of their education costs, in exchange for an agreement to work in rural Delaware for five years.
Running the medical school is expected to cost Jefferson $78 million over the next five years. The money is from a federal rural health grant through the Rural Health Transformation Program, which congressional Republicans created in the so-called “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act.”
The program will give $50 billion to every state over five years, though exactly the total each will eventually receive is unclear. Half of the money is to be distributed equally to states and the other half is awarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services based on a variety of factors.
The state applied for $1 billion late last year to improve health care in Kent and Sussex counties. The Trump administration has so far allocated Delaware $157 million. Delaware is expected to receive at least $500 million over the life of the fund.
Delaware Ohio Housing Growth
A look at the rapid expansion of housing developments in Delaware, Ohio.
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Every few weeks Delaware city approves a new housing development. The city has more than 4,000 housing units in its development pipeline, contributing to the rapid growth in one of the fastest-growing counties in Ohio.
A crash shut down U.S. 42 in Delaware County in both directions June 2.
As of 7 a.m., U.S. 42 was closed from U.S. 23 to Jegs Place near the Delaware Municipal Airport.
It was not immediately clear whether anyone was injured in the crash or when the roadway would open.
This is a developing story and will be updated
Public Safety and Breaking News Reporter Bailey Gallion can be reached at bagallion@dispatch.com.
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