Grand Rounds June on Arkansas Medical News Inc.

Grand Rounds June

Husband and Wife Cancer Researchers Awarded Two National Komen Grants

Fred Kadlubar, PhD, and Susan Kadlubar, PhD, were each awarded $300,000 grants for individual studies of breast cancer treatments. Fred Kadlubar is chairman of the Department of Epidemiology at the UAMS College of Public Health and director of research at the UAMS Arkansas Cancer Research Center. Susan Kadlubar is assistant professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the UAMS College of Public Health.

Fred Kadlubar's three-year grant will fund a study of Tamoxifen, a commonly prescribed breast cancer medication used to slow or stop the growth of cancer cells. Susan Kadlubar's two-year grant will fund a study of genetic variations in the body's enzyme known as UCP2 and its response to one of the most common chemotherapy treatments used for breast cancer.

Springdale Philanthropist Honored by State Medical Society

Mrs. Pat Seamans Walker of Springdale will be recognized for her many contributions to healthcare in Arkansas by receiving the Arkansas Medical Society's 2007 Shuffield Award.

The Shuffield Award is given each year to recognize a non-physician who has made significant contributions to the healthcare community. The award is named in honor of the late Drs. Joe and Elvin Shuffield, a father and son team from Little Rock, who devoted their lives to the quality of healthcare in our state.

Pat Walker and her husband, the late Willard Walker, began their legacy of giving over 40 years ago and have given over $250 million.
Healthcare gifts in Arkansas include: UAMS, Northwest Medical Center, Arkansas Cancer Research Center, Jones Eye Institute, Arkansas Children's Hospital, Washington Regional Hospital and the Springdale Hospice.

Simpson Named Chairman of UAMS Laboratory Sciences Department

Donald D. Simpson, PhD, has been named chairman for the Department of Laboratory Sciences in the College of Health Related Professions at UAMS.

Simpson, a board-registered cytotechnologist with a master's degree in public health, has served as interim director of the cytotechnology program at UAMS since 2004. The UAMS Department of Laboratory Sciences includes the cytotechnology and medical technology programs. Simpson succeeds David Shelledy, PhD, CHRP associate dean for academic and student affairs, who served as interim chairman of the department.

Powell Named First Female President of Arkansas Medical Society

Dr. Brenda Powell, MD, of Hot Springs, will soon join the ranks of the over 100 Arkansas physicians who have served as President of the Arkansas Medical Society.

Powell however, will be unique to them all as she assumes the role as the society's first female president. To address the problem of health care access, Powell will be working with other organizations such as the Health Care Access Foundation, Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care, Area Health Education Centers, and the Arkansas Department of Health.

Article Outlines Responsible Policies for Improvement Activities

Twenty-one senior leaders in American healthcare have issued recommendations intended to ensure that quality improvement activities are carried out according to high ethical standards. The authors share their ideas in an article in the Annals of Internal Medicine released on-line ("The Ethics of Using Quality Improvement Methods in Health Care" at http://www.annals.org).

The article provides guidance on the ethics improvement activities; it represents the culmination of a multi-year inquiry led by The Hastings Center in New York and funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The authors conclude that the ethics requirements for quality improvement activities differ from those that guide research or routine clinical practice.

Redman Voted "Doctor of the Year" at Arkansas Children's Hospital

John Redman, MD, pediatric urologist at Arkansas Children's Hospital and professor in the Department of Urology in the UAMS College of Medicine, was recently voted "Doctor of the Year" by Arkansas Children's Hospital physicians and staff, according to Bonnie Taylor, MD, Medical Director for Arkansas Children's Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Humanities, UAMS.
The honor was presented recently during the hospital's semi-annual medical staff meeting. This year's themed event was M*A*S*H Bash; Dr. Redman was chosen as the "Most Likely to Wear General Stars" and awarded the "ACH Medal of Honor".

River Oaks Village Expands, Offers New Services

River Oaks Village is under construction: the retirement community is adding fourteen independent living units and building a 40 apartment assisted living facility.

River Oaks Village has been an independent living retirement center since 1991.

Shorey Wins Outstanding Woman Faculty Award

Dr. Jeannette M. Shorey II, MD, an associate professor of internal medicine and associate dean for continuing medical education and faculty affairs in the UAMS College of Medicine, has received the 2007 Outstanding Woman Faculty Award for mentorship, leadership, scholarship and achievement.

The award was presented at the seventh annual Women's Faculty Development Caucus awards dinner. More than 70 women faculty members attended.

Shorey joined the faculty as an associate professor of geriatrics in 2002, after spending 18 years at Harvard Medical School as an intern, resident, faculty member and residency program director. She became associate dean in the College of Medicine in 2004. She is the daughter of Winston K. Shorey, MD, dean of the UAMS College of Medicine from 1961 through 1974, and Jeanette M. Shorey, MD, who also was a faculty member.

Shorey has designed and delivered many mentoring, teaching and communication workshops at UAMS and nationally. She has served as vice president and board member of the American Academy on Communication in Healthcare (formerly the American Academy on Physician and Patient).

White County Medical Center Adding New Psychiatric Services

White County Medical Center is expanding its psychiatric services with the addition of adult psychiatric care and an intensive outpatient program.

The adult psychiatric program will specialize in treating adults from 18 to 54, who have mental illnesses. These mental illnesses include paranoia, schizophrenia, depression and conditions related to substance abuse.

The adult psych program will open this summer.

Mercy Health Foundation receives Komen grant for Healing Angels Program

HOT SPRINGS – The Arkansas Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation awarded St. Joseph's Mercy Health Center's Mercy Health Foundation a $10,800 grant on behalf of the Healing Angels Program at the Mercy Women'sCenter.

The Healing Angels Program provides low income, uninsured and underinsured breast cancer patients from south central Arkansas with comprehensive medical and non-medical services. The objective is to furnish qualifying breast cancer patients with wigs, bras, prosthesis and lymphedema sleeves, and also enhance the program by providing a physical therapist with lymphedema training.
Liver Specialist James Rose Joins UAMS Faculty

Fellowship-trained hepatologist James E. Rose, MD, has joined the faculty in the Department of Internal Medicine of the College of Medicine at UAMS.

Rose has been appointed an assistant professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. He also is part of the recently created UAMS Liver Disease Referral Center.

Rose received his medical degree in 1998 from American University of the Caribbean on the island of St. Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles. In 2004, he completed a fellowship in transplant hepatology at Integris-Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City.

Calico Rock Hospital Growing

Construction is complete for the Emergency, Surgery, and Outpatient wing ofthe Community Medical Center of Izard County, a critical access facility, thatopened in early May.

Dr. Meryl Grasse and his wife Gladys, an RN, came from Pennsylvania to opentheir first clinic in 1952. The need for healthcare was so great that laterthat same year his brother, Dr. John Grasse, and his wife Mary Margaret,also an RN, joined them, and the hospital began in a little white house inCalico Rock.

Meryl Grasse has bridged the gap, and been instrumental in the MedicalCenter's growth, from a small clinic to a multi-million dollar facility.

Dr. Meryl Grasse is still an active physician and medical director at the medical center and his wife Gladys is active in the auxiliary, while John Grasse has passed away "From the community's perspective, this new facility will allow us to keep the hospital as a vibrant community player focusing on the health needs of our service area," said CEO Angela Richmond. "And, from the patients'perspective, our mission is the same. Our goal is to meet our patients'needs in the best way possible, especially in regard to emergency and acutecare services."

The hospital also operates clinics located at Horseshoe Bend and Melbourne.

White County Medical Center Adding Long-term Acute Care Facility

White County Medical Center is adding a new service: Advanced Care Hospital of White County. Advanced Care Hospital is a 27-bed long-term acute care hospital.

Advanced Care Hospital of White County will serve extended-stay patients who no longer require intensive diagnostic procedures but are too ill for home health, a rehabilitation facility, a nursing home or their own homes.

Advanced Care Hospital will offer physician services; an experienced nursing staff; a complete respiratory department; and physical, occupational and speech therapy.

Thaxton to Direct Nuclear Medicine Imaging Sciences

Paul Thaxton has been named director for the Division of Nuclear Medicine Imaging Sciences at UAMS.

Thaxton, who has been an instructor in the UAMS program since 1994, is a certified nuclear medicine technologist. Thaxton is a 1989 graduate of the nuclear medicine program at UAMS.

Arkansas Children's Hospital Presents DAISY Award

Arkansas Children's Hospital nurse Sonja Ridout, RN, BSN, was honored with The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses, part of the national DAISY Foundation's program that recognizes the super human efforts nurses perform every day.

Ridout, an RN III, Specialty Nurse, practices in the ACH Pulmonary Clinic.

The DAISY Award for Extraordinary Nurses will become a monthly recognition program at Arkansas Children's Hospital.

UAMS Liver Transplant Program Attains Medicare Certification Approval

The UAMS Medical Center in Little Rock has received approval for payment by the Medicare program for liver transplants, a certification that will greatly expand access to the state's only liver transplant program.

Effective late April, the transplant program could accept Medicare beneficiaries, whose care will be covered by the government health insurance program for people age 65 and older or individuals with disabilities.

UAMS College of Medicine Named a National Leader In Educating Family Practice Physicians

The UAMS College of Medicine has been recognized by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) as one of the top 10 medical schools in the nation for producing family practice doctors.

The College of Medicine received the AAFP's Achievement Award at the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Annual Spring Conference in Chicago. The award is based on a three-year average ending in October 2006 during which time 17.9 percent of UAMS College of Medicine students entered a family medicine residency program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education.

UAMS Names Kohler Vice Chancellor For Northwest Arkansas Region

With 34 years of administrative experience in academic health care, Dr. Peter O. Kohler, MD, has been named by UAMS as vice chancellor for the Northwest Arkansas Region and will lead efforts to open a UAMS campus in northwest Arkansas.

Rider Registration Currently Underway for CARTI Tour de Rock

Rider registration is currently underway for the fourth annual CARTI Tour de Rock, a cycling-based fundraiser comprised of two individual rides and benefiting the Central Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute, scheduled for June 9 at the Burns Park Soccer Complex in North Little Rock.

The Arkansas Children's Hospital Fun Ride is an 18-mile pre-set course across North Little Rock designed for cyclists of all ages and abilities. Pre-registration for the CARTI Tour de Rock is $25 per rider, with registration the day of the ride set at $30. Registration fee for riders ages 12 and under is $10.

For more information or to register, contact the CARTI Foundation at 501-296-3202 or visit www.carti.com.

Centers for Children Celebrates Grand Opening in Northwest Arkansas

The Centers for Children in Lowell celebrated its grand opening recently as part of a collaborative project of UAMS and Arkansas Children's Hospital. The new facility provides developmental and subspecialty medical care to children in northwest Arkansas, provided by physicians from both facilities.

The center, located in a 40,000-square-foot, two-story building at 519 Latham Drive, houses the Schmieding Developmental Center, the Schmieding KIDS FIRST program and various regional clinics, all previously located in Fayetteville and Springdale.

Shaver Family Establishes Nursing Scholarship Endowment

Dick Bernard, President of the White River Health System Foundation Board of Directors, has announced a major gift by Carl and Amy Shaver to the White River Health System Foundation. The gift establishes the Carl and Amy Shaver Nursing Scholarship Endowment. Proceeds from the endowment will fund an annual scholarship for a deserving student pursuing a Registered Nursing degree.

June 2007