Hope Kiwanis Hears Program on Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center
The Hope Kiwanis Club heard a great program about Hope’s hospital on Tuesday (1-28). Shelby Brown is the new administrator at the hospital.
Brown began her program by thanking Jamie Pafford-Gresham and her family. Brown said without Pafford-Gresham, the hospital most likely would have closed. The new administrator said operating a hospital was not in Pafford-Gresham’s plans but that she wanted to do it for the community. The hospital is now known as Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center.
The hospital offers a variety of services. This includes a 24/7 Emergency Room. Brown noted the E.R. is very important to the community and persons experiencing an emergency such as heart attack or stroke should get there for immediate care. The E.R. can stabilize patients in these situations and send them to a different facility if need be. The ER at S.A.R.M.C. has experienced staff who know the proper procedures in such an emergency. The ER also has a contract with UAMS for telemedicine. This helps with such issues as strokes. Brown also noted the hospital can give the “clotbuster” medicine in conjunction with the neurologists at UAMS. She also explained the divisions in the ER including the triage room, the “fast track” rooms for patients who will be treated and released, and also an observation room in cases where a patient has to be watched and documented every 15 minutes.
The hospital still has the “Golden Care” facility. This behavioral health unit works with patients 55 and older. “Golden Care” is one of the few such in-patient facilities in the state.
Brown told the club the hospital has an intensive care unit. “If you didn’t think we could care for critically ill patients, we can,” said Brown. She also talked about the facility’s “hospitalist”, Dr. Miller. She noted he strictly works for the hospital and is on call 24/7.
S.A.R.M.C. has lab services and physical therapy. Brown noted Jennifer Orr is over the physical therapy program. She noted that patients can dictate where they take physical therapy and the hospital is a good place to get those services right here in Hope.
Other departments at the hospital include “progressive care” which is the medical floor, radiology, and respiratory therapy.
Brown talked about some improvements that have come to the hospital since Pafford took over. The hospital has installed a new nurse call system on the progressive care floor.
S.A.R.M.C. recently hired a new person to operate the MRI. Brown said it is fully operational. She also stressed patients can often dictate where they have an MRI done and the hospital can handle those right here in Hope.
Brown showed a photo of the lobby with its new desk. All of the hospital clinics will be moved into the hospital. These include the Pafford clinic, Dr. Garrett, and the Rural Health Clinic. Brown said Dr. Goins is full-time and Dr. Garrett practices 3 days a week. There are also 3 nurse practitioners. Brown said they hope eventually they might could offer some Saturday hours.
Brown explained some of the procedural issues the hospital faced. This includes a new tax i.d. number, a new Medicare number, and new vendor contracts. The hospital also has a new phone system and this has had some issues. Brown says they are working to get the kinks out of the new phone system.
There are some needs at the hospital. Brown says the hospital needs a new roof. The current roof is original to the building and has been patched quite a bit. Another need is a new HVAC system. The hospital also needs some extension of the sprinkler system. Brown says the hospital is actively pursuing any available state and federal funds that might be available for the hospital.
One of the reasons the hospital really needed is because of the healthcare crunch in Texarkana. Christus acquired the old Wadley facility in Texarkana. Most of Wadley’s services have been moved to St. Micheals. Since there’s only one emergency room functioning, this has led to some particularly long wait times for the ER. Most patients can be seen and taken care of in the Hope ER often much quicker than if they went to Texarkana. A new hospital is being constructed in Texarkana, but it is not determined yet who will operate that new facility. In the meantime, there can be serious ER backups in Texarkana.
Brown says she’s visited some of the other area hospitals to learn about their services. She said Magnolia has an orthopedic surgeon and this attracts people from a wide area. The Howard County hospital has a very good general surgeon who previously worked at Wadley in Texarkana. Brown said it is important she and the Hope hospital staff know where these services are available. Knowing about resources in Nashville and Magnolia is particularly important considering the backlog in Texarkana.
Plans for the future include the hospital applying to be a critical access hospital. This would allow the hospital to receive additional funding for Medicare and Medicaid patients who use the hospital.
The club had several questions for Brown and greatly enjoyed learning about this new era for the Hope hospital.
