PROVIDENCE – Constance A. Howes, president and CEO of Women & Infants Hospital, has been named 2009 Citizen of the Year by the March of Dimes Rhode Island.

The annual Citizen of the Year award recognizes a community leader who has worked to advance the March of Dimes’ mission of improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.

In Rhode Island, about 30 premature babies are born every week, according to the March of Dimes. Premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death.

Howes has led Women & Infants, which is part of the Care New England provider network, since October 2002. She is the first woman to serve as president of Women & Infants since it was founded in 1884 as the Providence Lying-In Hospital.

Howes had previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Women & Infants, and before that as vice president and general counsel for Care New England. Before joining the hospital network, she spent 17 years as a corporate lawyer with Tillinghast, Collins & Graham. She is a graduate of Kenyon College and the University of Virginia School of Law.

Last year, Howes won the top award for career achievement in Providence Business News’ annual Business Women recognition program.

“I cannot stress enough how uncomfortable I am with individual recognition for myself,” Howes told PBN at the time, “because this is a team effort. The only reason I agreed to do this is to benefit the reputation of Women & Infants Hospital and what we do here.”

Howes was nominated by the March of Dimes’ Leadership Advisory Council, which is co-chaired by Dr. Donald Coustan, interim director of the division of maternal fetal medicine at Women & Infants, and Jason Macari, president and CEO of Summer Infant Inc., the maker of infant and toddler products.

Howes and Women & Infants will be recognized at a fundraising reception for the March of Dimes on June 24 at Blithewold Mansion, Gardens and Arboretum in Bristol.

Previous Citizens of the Year have included Thomas Ryan, Merrill Sherman, John Hazen White Jr., Howard G. Sutton, Benjamin Harris III, Anne Szostak, Alan G. Hassenfeld, Jack Kramer, John Harwood, Lincoln Almond, Carol J. Grant, John Hazen White Sr. and Alan Shawn Feinstein.

Additional information is available at MarchofDimes.com.