UAMS Signs Major Contract for Radiation Research

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has signed a contract with the federal Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to proceed with advanced development of a promising treatment for use in radiological or nuclear emergency situations.

The initial award by BARDA, which is overseen by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is for $4.5 million over two years.

The contract’s value will rise to nearly $13 million assuming that two 12-month option periods are exercised.

Under the contract, UAMS’ Martin Hauer-Jensen, M.D., Ph.D., an internationally renowned radiation researcher, will lead the evaluation of the drug, SOM230, or pasireotide, to treat gastrointestinal injuries after radiological or nuclear accidents or terrorist attacks.

Hauer-Jensen said that it is his hope that the drug will someday be available to address public health emergencies and to benefit cancer patients receiving certain radiation therapies.

The research contract is the largest in the UAMS College of Pharmacy’s 60-year history, said Stephanie Gardner, Ed.D., Pharm.D., dean of the College of Pharmacy.

NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital in Top 5 Percent Nationally for Patient Experience

HealthGrades, the nation’s most trusted source for researching and selecting doctors and hospitals, today named NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital a recipient of the 2011 Outstanding Patient Experience Award™. This distinction ranks NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital among the top 5 percent of hospitals nationwide based on an analysis of patient satisfaction data for 3,797 U.S. hospitals.  2011 marks the 3rd consecutive year NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital has received the Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ and the 2nd year they have ranked among the top 5 percent in the nation for patient experience.

HealthGrades analyzed HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) hospital survey data obtained from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), from April 2009 to March 2010. HealthGrades identified those hospitals performing in the top 10 percent in the nation for patient satisfaction, based on survey responses from patients treated at those facilities. These 339 hospitals were designated as 2011 Outstanding Patient Experience Award™ recipients.

Summit Medical Center Earns ‘Top Performer’ Recognition from The Joint Commission

Summit Medical Center was named one of the nation’s top performers on key quality measures by The Joint Commission, the leading accreditor of healthcare organizations in America.

Summit Medical Center was recognized by The Joint Commission based on data reported about evidence-based clinical procedures that are shown to improve care for certain conditions, including heart attack, heart failure, pneumonia, surgical care and children’s asthma.

Summit Medical Center is one of only 405 U.S. hospitals and critical access hospitals earning the distinction of top performer on key quality measures for attaining and sustaining excellence in accountability measure performance.

To be recognized as a top performer on key quality measures an organization must meet two 95 percent performance thresholds. First it must achieve a composite performance of 95 percent or above after the results of all the accountability measures for which it reports data to The Joint Commission were factored into a single score, including measures that had less than 30 eligible cases or patients. Second it must meet or exceed a 95 percent performance target for every single accountability measure for which it reports data, excluding any measures with less than 30 eligible cases or patients.

Summit Medical Center was recognized for achieving these thresholds for Pneumonia.

ACH Preventing Infections in Children, Saving $1.4 million in Costs

Through its participation in a nationwide network of children’s hospitals dedicated to eradicating central line-associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs) in hospitalized children, Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) has prevented 49 of these infections and saved nearly $1.4 million in health care spending.

In collaboration with more than 80 other children’s hospitals nationwide, Arkansas Children’s Hospital’s participation has helped the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and Related Institutions (NACHRI) Quality Transformation Network (QTN) save 355 children’s lives, prevent 2,964 central line infections and pass the $100 million mark for total cost savings.

The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at ACH has gone more than 250 days since the last CLABSI. ACH started working to decrease these infections two years before joining the NACHRI collaborative and is spreading this methodology to other ICUs, as well as to the Hematology/Oncology Unit.

A breakdown of the Arkansas Children’s Hospital data reflects that the Hematology/Oncology unit prevented 28 infections since joining the network, and its PICU prevented 21. Of the cost savings, Hematology/Oncology spared the hospital $619,500, while the PICU saved $741,000 in health care costs.

A January 2010 Pediatrics journal article published the first set of findings of the NACHRI QTN that clearly differentiate the effect of insertion-related practices, well documented in adult-patient academic literature as driving the reduction of CLABSIs in intensive care, from maintenance-related practices that are predictive of being able to reduce children’s CLABSI rates. It will publish updated findings from the NACHRI QTN in an upcoming issue.

Summit Medical Center Welcomes New CEO

Summit Medical Center is pleased to have Sue Conley join the hospital’s staff as the new Chief Executive Officer.  Sue previously served as the Chief Operating Officer at Sparks Health System in Fort Smith.

With over 15 years of experience, Sue has held numerous senior leadership positions in hospitals in Nevada, Texas and Arkansas.  She has a Masters degree in Health Care Administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.  She also earned two undergraduate degrees: one in Medical Technology and one in Biology, both from Hardin Simmons University in Abilene, Texas.

Telestroke Arrives in Hot Springs

Telestroke is a time-saving system designed to get stroke patients in front of a board-certified neurologist faster than ever before. It is now possible through a partnership with NeuroCall, a Miami-based provider of Emergency Neurological coverage. The NeuroCall physicians assigned are board-certified in Arkansas and credentialed at St. Joseph’s Mercy.

This service is in addition to the neurological services currently available at St. Joseph’s Mercy. Since implementing the system on Sept. 1 it has been used several times, including successfully giving clot-busting drug t-PA to a patient.

There are other teleneurological programs in Arkansas, but they have not previously reached Garland, Hot Spring, Montgomery, Pike, Hempstead and Nevada counties. In addition, St. Joseph’s Mercy provides a closer destination for stroke patients in western Saline County and southern Perry and Yell counties. Hot Spring (10th), Hempstead (13th), Perry (18th), Yell (20th) and Montgomery (22nd) all rank higher than the state average in stroke mortality rates, according to the Arkansas Department of Health.

When a patient is brought to the Emergency Department with stroke symptoms, ED physicians need to determine if that person is a candidate for acute stroke therapy. Within 15 minutes a NeuroCall physician is on the phone with the emergency department doctor to see if a video consultation is in order.

During this time, the patient is sent for a CT scan (X-ray computer tomography) and blood is drawn for lab tests. A video cart system is wheeled into the patient’s room and the physician appears on the video monitor within minutes. The physician evaluates the patient with the assistance of a doctor or nurse.

The high-resolution camera system is powerful enough that the physician can check for symptoms such as pupil dilation by zooming in as the nurse holds the eyelid open. The physician can speak directly to the patient, family members, doctors and nurses. They can also enter notes and orders in the electronic health record, just like they were at the bedside.

Two St. Bernards Physicians Earn Certification As Wound Care Specialists

Two physicians on staff at the Wound Healing Center at St. Bernards have earned certification as wound care specialists from the American Academy of Wound Management. They are Drs. Anthony Lamkin and Jason Paxton.

Lamkin also is board certified in the medical subspecialty of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. He earned his medical degree from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and completed a residency in family practice at the Area Health Education Center Northwest, where he served as chief resident.

He is an emergency medicine and wound care physician at White River Medical Center in Batesville and serves as medical director of that hospital’s Emergency Department.

Lamkin holds a bachelor’s degree from Lyon College in Batesville.

Paxton is board certified in preventive medicine, undersea and hyperbaric medicine and in family practice. After earning his Doctor of Medicine degree from Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, California, he also served a family practice residency at the Area Health Education Center-Northwest in Fayetteville. He works in emergency medicine at White River Medical Center in Batesville and at Baxter Regional Medical Center in Mountain Home. In addition, he serves as medical director for Caring Hands Hospice in Batesville.

Paxton earned a bachelor’s degree from Harding University in Searcy.

 There are only three physicians in the state of Arkansas who hold certification as wound care specialists.

Beverly Parker Named to Arkansas Alzheimer’s Advisory Council

Beverly Parker, director of the St. Bernards Senior Health Clinic and director of education for the Center on Aging-Northeast in Jonesboro, has been named to the Alzheimer’s Advisory Council of Arkansas.

The council is the permanent statutory successor to the Task Force on Effects of Alzheimer’s Disease created in 2009. It is co-chaired by Arkansas representatives Karen Hopper and Butch Wilkins, both of whom have spouses suffering from Alzheimer’s. The Alzheimer’s Advisory Council will focus on the impact and growth of Alzheimer’s Disease in Arkansas, the quality, availability and cost of care, state response and other considerations. 

The council held its initial meeting earlier in the summer and will review the findings and recommendations of the Task Force and the mandate provided by the General Assembly in Act 889. It will hold a series of hearings throughout the state during the coming year.

Parker holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Arkansas State University and a master’s degree in community health and nursing administration from the University of Southern Mississippi.

Jeanne Heard, M.D., Ph.D., Joins UAMS as Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

Jeanne Heard, M.D., Ph.D., has been named vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

Heard will serve as chief academic officer, working in partnership with UAMS’ five college deans and other leaders across the institution to enrich the campus’ intellectual environment.

Heard, a former associate dean for graduate medical education and professor of internal medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine, returns to UAMS from Chicago, where she helped lead the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education since 2004. She served the council as director of the Department of Accreditation Committees, senior vice president of Accreditation Committees, and most recently as senior scholar. She also has served as adjunct professor of medical education at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

Heard’s legacy in the College of Medicine lives on through the Jeanne K. Heard Award for Excellence in Clinical Skills, which is presented each year to the senior medical student who scores the highest on practical clinical exams.

Radiation Oncologist Joins Sparks Health System

Sparks Health System is pleased to welcome another physician to our outstanding team.

Bruce Cross, M.D., is a board-certified Radiation Oncologist. He began seeing patients in October at the new Sparks Radiation Treatment Center.

To Dr. Cross, cancer is personal. After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, Dr. Cross was inspired to study Radiation Oncology following his mother’s battle with pancreatic cancer. He received his medical degree from the University of Missouri – Columbia School of Medicine and performed his residency at the renowned Cleveland Clinic.

Sparks Receives Accreditation For Chest Pain

Sparks Health System is proud to announce our medical center is now recognized as the only Accredited Chest Pain Center in the River Valley region.

The Society of Chest Pain Centers (SCPC), an international not-for-profit organization that focuses on transforming cardiovascular care, has awarded Sparks Regional Medical Center its Chest Pain Center Accreditation.

To receive SCPC accreditation, Sparks Regional Medical Center underwent rigorous evaluation by the SCPC on the ability of staff to assess, diagnose and treat patients who may be experiencing a heart attack. That means processes are in place at Sparks to treat patients more quickly during the critical window of time when the integrity of the heart muscle can be preserved, and also to reduce the time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis and treatment. In addition, Sparks staff will monitor patients when heart attack symptoms are present to ensure they are not sent home too quickly or needlessly admitted to the hospital.

Sparks Regional Medical Center’s state-of-the-art healthcare encompasses the entire continuum of care for heart patients.

UAMS, 40 Partners Kick Off Rural Health Study

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and 40 organizations have begun a partnership to develop policy recommendations that address critical rural health care needs in Arkansas.

Led by the UAMS Center for Rural Health, the effort includes representatives from traditional health fields, economic development, education, government agencies and for-profit institutions. Among the partners is the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, which will conduct focus groups across the state.

During the kickoff luncheon Sept. 27 in the UAMS Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Rahn noted that recent state legislation has called for collaborative efforts to address the root causes of health disparities.

The first report generated by the partnership members will include their recommendations and will be used as a legislative tool and a guide within their organizations.

WRMC North Complex Earns Accreditation

White River Medical Center North Complex has earned a three-year term of accreditation in computed tomography (CT) for images of the head/neck, chest, and abdomen in both pediatric and adult patients. This accreditation comes as a result of a review by the American College of Radiology (ACR).

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