Johnsen to become new CEO at St. Joseph’s
HOT SPRINGS – Timothy J. Johnsen will become President and CEO of St. Joseph’s Mercy Health Center on January 1, 2008, following the planned retirement of current CEO Randall J. Fale, FACHE, at the end of the year.
Johnsen has held the position of executive vice president and chief operating officer at St. Joseph’s since September 2006. He previously served as president of St. John’s Hospital in Lebanon, Mo. Both St. Joseph’s and St. John’s are sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy Health System.
Johnsen also has held leadership positions at Citizens Memorial Health Care System in Bolivar, Mo., and Cox Health System in Springfield, Mo. He holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing and a master’s degree in health services administration from Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, and a master’s degree in business administration from Webster University in St. Louis.
New UAMS Surgeon’s Skills Enable Surgeries Without Incision
Diane Rhoden, MD, a fellowship-trained surgeon in laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures, has joined UAMS.
Rhoden’s highly specialized skills, which also include open surgery, allow UAMS to begin development of a Natural Orifice Transluminal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) program. Such a program will mean more surgeries using an endoscope through the mouth rather than through an incision in the abdomen.
Rhoden, an assistant professor of surgery who joined UAMS in April, is focusing on upper gastrointestinal cases, although her unique skills will allow her to perform many other types of surgery.
Rhoden most recently was an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine in Tulsa.
Rhoden received her medical degree in 1997 from the University of Miami School of Medicine in Miami, Fla., and completed a fellowship in Endoscopy and Interventional ERCP (Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography) at the University of Louisville in Kentucky. Her laparoscopic fellowship also was completed at the University of Louisville.
Rapid Response Team added at White River
BATESVILLE – White River Medical Center (WRMC) has implemented a Rapid Response Team (RRT) available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to support the nursing staff in the event of a sudden change in patient status and improve patient outcomes.
Any staff member concerned about the patient, a family member or the patient himself or herself can activate the RRT. The Team is lead by an ICU nurse and may include a Respiratory Therapist and/or an Advance Practice Nurse (APN).
The development and implementation of the RRT is a part of WRMC’s participation with the Institute of Healthcare Improvement’s (IHI) 5 Million Lives Campaign and to WRMC’s commitment to providing safe and quality healthcare. The RRT is an IHI nursing best practice, and one of the tools available to hospitals participating in the campaign.
Jacobs Named UAMS Department of Pediatrics Chairman
Richard F. Jacobs, MD, has been named chairman of the Department of Pediatrics in the UAMS College of Medicine.
Jacobs, the Horace C. Cabe Professor of Pediatrics, has served as interim department chairman since Sept. 1, 2006, when then-chairwoman Debra H. Fiser, MD, was named dean of the UAMS College of Medicine. He joined the UAMS faculty in 1982.
The Department of Pediatrics is the college’s largest department with more than 195 faculty and 950 professionals, paraprofessionals and support staff. It is based at longtime UAMS clinical and teaching affiliate Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
Jacobs, a 1977 graduate of UAMS, is board certified and fellowship trained in infectious diseases. In 2004, he was named president of the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute (ACHRI). From 1989 to 2005 he served as section chief for pediatric infectious diseases. As section chief of pediatric infectious diseases at ACH, he also was responsible for medical student, resident and fellow education; research programs; and clinical training.
Ferguson Receives National Appointment
Arkansas Medical Society Secretary, Dr. Scott Ferguson, was recently appointed as Chair of the National Mammography Quality Assurance Advancement Committee (NMQAAC). The NMQAAC is a committee of the FDA’s Division of Mammography Quality and Radiation Programs. The group administers the Mammography Quality Standards Act that requires mammography facilities to have accreditation from an approved accreditation body and be certified by the FDA.
Ferguson has served on the committee since 2003. He is a practicing radiologist in West Memphis who also serves as a clinical image reviewer for the Arkansas mammography accreditation program. He has represented the rural private practice setting.
Ferguson has served on an NCI panel addressing the issue of digital mammography. As a former member of the Arkansas House of Representatives, he worked for passage of Arkansas’s State mammography quality standards.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital Partakes In Clinical Trial Investigating Rare, Life-Threatening Genetic Disorder
Arkansas Children’s Hospital has begun treatment of the first patient in the a confirmatory national clinical trial for hereditary angioedema, a rare, life-threatening genetic disorder that causes swelling and inflammation in the hands, feet, face, gastrointestinal tract, respiratory system or throat.
EDEMA4 is a clinical trial by biopharmaceutical company, Dyax Corp., and is to be used to support the validity of an earlier completed trial phase for a drug candidate to treat acute attacks of hereditary angioedema.
Baxter Regional Employees Give Funds
During the annual Employee Fund Drive, Baxter Regional Medical Center employees give to various areas of need. Representing Baxter Regional and these areas of service are (from left) Heather Knight, Baxter Regional Hospital Foundation; Phil Thompson, Employee Crisis Fund, which received $30,000; Dr. Paul Wilbur, Mountain Home Christian Clinic, which received $25,000; Mike Fisher, Employee Children and Grandchildren Scholarship Fund, which received $20,000; Barb Mazzuchi, Employee Fund Drive and Ron Peterson, BRMC President and CEO. Not pictured, Kelly Dicks, Friends Fund, which received $15,000.
Abrahamsen Named to New APN Position at Mercy Heart & Vascular Center
HOT SPRINGS – Susan Abrahamsen, ANP, MNS was recently named to a new Advance Practice Nurse position at the Mercy Heart & Vascular Center.
Abrahamsen has been with St. Joseph’s since 1989. Most recently she served the hospital as a critical care registered nurse while completing her Nurse Practitioner education. She has a background in cardiovascular medicine and program development, having helped with the origination of St. Joseph’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Services program 18 years ago and the Business Health Clinic in 1997. In her new position, she will act as a physician “extender” and help provide vascular services to persons with circulation problems of the arteries and veins. Abrahamsen earned her bachelor of science in nursing degree in 1985 from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette, La. In December of 2006, she earned her master of nursing science degree from UAMS.
Mulligan Named Director of UAMS Center on Aging in Jonesboro
Tom Mulligan, MD, has been named director of the Center on Aging Northeast in Jonesboro. The center is a partnership between UAMS’s Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, the UAMS Area Health Education Center Northeast and St. Bernards Healthcare in Jonesboro.
Mulligan also serves as medical director for senior services at St. Bernards. He previously held the position of Ruth S. Jewett professor of medicine at the University of Florida and as director of the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center at Malcolm Randall VA Medical Center (VCU).
Lowery Named Chairman of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UAMS
Curtis Lowery, MD, a maternal-fetal specialist at UAMS, has been named chairman of the UAMS College of Medicine’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Lowery, a professor in the department, served as the director of the department’s Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine since 1992. He assumed the chairman’s post July 1, said College of Medicine Dean Debra H. Fiser, MD. He replaces Helen H. Kay, MD, who is retiring.
Lowery joined UAMS in 1990 as an assistant professor in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and has been the principal investigator on seven federal research initiatives and continues his research efforts through federal and state grants and contracts.
American Hospital Association Certifies Cotten As Healthcare Facility Manager
Brian Cotten, director of construction management at UAMS in Little Rock, was recently designated a certified healthcare facility manager by the American Hospital Association (AHA).
Requirements for the designation include work and experience as well as passing an examination that tests knowledge needed for a health care facility manager in the areas of compliance with industry codes and rules; planning, design and construction; maintenance and operations; finance; and administration.
Cotten joined UAMS as director of construction management in 2004, and is responsible for overseeing all planning, design, construction and renovation activity at UAMS. This includes ongoing construction of approximately $400 million in facilities, including a major hospital expansion, an expansion to the Arkansas Cancer Research Center, the Psychiatric Research Institute, a residence hall, education building and a parking deck.
St. Vincent Visiting Nurse Association Earns National Award
St. Vincent Visiting Nurse Association has received the BestWorks Award of Distinction and has been named a National Best Practice Agency by Fazzi Associates. BestWorks is a network of home healthcare and hospice agencies. BestWorks subscribers compare results, analyze practices and learn effective improvement strategies from Fazzi Associates, a national leader in consulting, benchmarking and best practice research.
The awards are based on quality and financial results for second quarter 2006. “The Visiting Nurse Association of Arkansas provides excellent medical care to patients. And we’ve been doing that for nearly 70 years,” said Denise Looker, administrator, St. Vincent Visiting Nurse Association.
Stubblefield Named Administrator at Arkadelphia
Greg Stubblefield always seems to be smiling.
And why shouldn’t he?
Not even 32, Stubblefield is already a hospital administrator after only five years in the business, not a bad career path, but does Stubblefield, who was recently named the administrator at Baptist Health Medical Center-Arkadelphia, see himself doing more.
“No, I can see being at Arkadelphia for the rest of my career,” he said. “Arkadelphia is a great town, with great schools and it has a great hospital.”
Stubblefield replaces the late Dan Gathright, who had been on the job at Arkadelphia for 27 years and Stubblefield was named administrator after serving in an interim role since February. Before that he was the night administrator for Baptist Health-Little Rock, the state’s largest hospital and Baptist Health-North Little Rock, along with the rehab hospital on the west Little Rock campus.
Stubblefield is a Pine Bluff native, who was a standout linebacker for – “I wore the Stripes. I was a Zebra” – Pine Bluff High, went to the University of Arkansas before transferring to Central Arkansas where he received his degree in radiology.
He then got interested in administration and moved to Texas to get his master’s from the University of North Texas Health Science Center. He then went to work for Baptist Health as a resident learning management.
In the meantime, Stubblefield, his wife and daughter are looking for a home in Arkadelphia and places to engage his two favorite hobbies – eating and jogging.
“I like to eat, and because I like to eat I like to jog.”
Health Crisis: An Unconscionable Reality…Working Towards Solutions
Most Americans and Arkansans agree that the health care system is in need of “repair.” Healthcare costs, cost of insurance, and the number of uninsured continue to rise while access to affordable healthcare is a real problem for many, particularly in rural areas.
Although finding solutions at the national level is important, Arkansas is NOT waiting. On August 15, a Summit on Health Policy and Legislation, hosted by the Community Health Centers of Arkansas (CHCA), Arkansas’ Primary Care Association, was held in Little Rock. The Summit brought together over 200 health care leaders and politicians from across the state. The participants discussed what has created the health crisis and recommended various short term and long range solutions and strategies that Arkansas should consider to help improve the Arkansas healthcare system.
CHCA will generate a report, which details the Summit participants’ recommended solutions and strategies, and present to the Governor, the Arkansas Congressional Delegation, and the leadership of Arkansas State Legislature to assist Arkansas in the planning of various strategies that will address the Arkansas “health crisis.”
Sherrill, ANP, Attends Medical Association Sessions
MOUNTAIN HOME — Lisa Sherrill, certified family nurse practitioner at the TerKeurst Urology Clinic, attended the annual meeting of the American Urological Association recently, where she completed symposia, scientific programs, and courses to receive 17 continuing medical education credit hours.
Among the courses she completed were: complicated urinary tract infections, overactive bladder, male lower urinary tract symptoms, prostate cancer, female urology, pediatric urology, and others. Mrs. Sherrill is a member of the AUA, American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, American Academy of Family Physicians, and Society of Urologic Nurses and Associates.
Mrs. Sherrill has been a certified Family Nurse Practitioner and Advanced Practice Nurse at TerKeurst Urology Clinic since 2006. She received her master’s degree in nursing at Arkansas
State University in 2006. She worked more than seven years in the emergency and hospice departments of Baxter Regional Medical Center as well as more than five years in home health through Baxter County Public Health Dept.
September 2007
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