Riverside Early Intervention in Needham has received a $3,000 charitable grant from the physicians of the Charles River District Medical Society to support the agency’s services for children.  

District Society President and Wellesley resident Kimberly O’Sullivan, M.D. presented the gift to Joanne Sweeney, program director at Riverside Early Intervention, and Katie Welch, Director of Development and Marketing, at Riverside in Needham on June 12. The Early Intervention Program provides educational, therapeutic, and support services for 600-700 children between birth and three years of age from the communities of Needham, Newton, Wellesley, and Weston. 

“This agency provides a wonderful range of services for children,” said Dr. O’Sullivan, a board-certified plastic surgeon in the private medical practice of plastic and reconstructive surgery in Wellesley with her mother, Renee Bennet O’Sullivan, M.D., also a board-certified plastic surgeon. 

“Whether it be for children’s physical, emotional, behavioral, or cognitive conditions, Riverside Early Intervention is a remarkable resource that deserves community-wide support,” Dr. O’Sullivan said. “I am thrilled that the physicians of our District Society can support this program.” The impetus behind the grant came from Dr. O’Sullivan’s personal experience with the agency: her twin boys benefited from physical therapy at Riverside following complications at birth several years ago. 

Riverside Early Intervention at Needham is part of Riverside Community Care, which offers programs in mental healthcare, developmental and cognitive disabilities, addiction treatment, and early childhood services.  Each year Riverside provides more than 40,000 adults, children and adolescents with a broad range of healthcare and human services in 70 cities and towns throughout eastern and central Massachusetts.  For more information, visit www.riversidecc.org.

The Charles River District Medical Society is one of 20 district medical societies that comprise the Massachusetts Medical Society and covers 16 communities west of Boston, including Needham, Newton, Wellesley, and Weston. It has more than 1,025 member physicians who work and live in those communities.

The Massachusetts Medical Society is the statewide professional association of physicians with more than 24,000 members. It publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, a leading global medical journal and web site, and Journal Watch alerts and newsletters covering 12 specialties. The Society is also a leader in continuing medical education for health care professionals throughout Massachusetts, conducting a variety of medical education programs for physicians and health care professionals. Founded in 1781, MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country.

For more information please visit www.massmed.org, www.nejm.org, or www.jwatch.org.