Grand Rounds September on Arkansas Medical News Inc.

Grand Rounds September

Little Rock Surgical Group to Open

Dr. Bobby Perry, General Surgeon; Dr. Lee Raley, Colorectal Surgeon; and Dr. Kurtis Vinsant, General Surgeon; will be joining together to form the Little Rock Surgical Group effective Aug. 17, 2009. Their new office will be located in the Doctors Building at 500 South University, Suite 317.

Stone County Medical Center Adds Patient Rooms

Mountain View — Stone County Medical Center is in the process of adding 8 modular patient rooms to increase inpatient capacity of the hospital to the pre-tornado level during the ongoing construction period. The modular section is specifically designed for healthcare and will connect directly into the current patient care wing. Seven rooms will be semi-private and one will be private and will be ready for patients mid to late August.

"Adding these rooms to the hospital is critical to caring for the community allowing patients to be cared for close to home and an important step in the rebuilding process at Stone County Medical Center," said Renie Taylor, Administrator. "We are grateful to the community and medical staff for their remarkable support during this time."

Village Walk for Cancer Research to Benefit UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute

LITTLE ROCK – People of all ages are invited to register for the Eighth Annual Village Walk for Cancer Research on Sept. 19 in Hot Springs Village. One hundred percent of proceeds from the walk will benefit the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

Cost to participate is $25 by July 31 or $30 after that date. For a registration form, contact Linda Logan, event chairman, at (501) 915-8070, or hsvcancerwalk@gmail.com.

The walk will begin at 7:30 a.m. at Cortez Pavilion, and participants may walk any distance they choose along a five-mile course.

The UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute is Arkansas' only academic cancer research and treatment facility. Construction of a new Cancer Institute tower is under way, with the first phase set to open in the summer of 2010. The new 12-story lower ultimately will double the Institute's capacity for treatment and research.

LAMMICO Welcomes Lafayette Physician Appointed to Board of Directors

Metairie — Kenneth E. Brown, Sr., M.D., MBA, has been appointed to the LAMMICO Board of Directors.

Dr. Brown practiced OB/GYN in Lafayette and currently serves as the Medical Director and Chief Medical Officer for the Woman's Health Foundation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is a graduate of the Howard University School of Medicine and completed his residency in Louisiana at the LSU School of Medicine – New Orleans. Later in his academic career, Dr. Brown earned a Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette. Dr. Brown will continue to serve on LAMMICO's Underwriting Committee.

In a related development, Kenneth E. Thorpe, Ph.D., has stepped down from the LAMMICO Board of Directors. Dr. Thorpe served as a Board Member from 1997 until 2009. Dr. Thorpe is the current Robert W. Woodruff Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy & Management in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The Board of Directors passed a resolution honoring Dr. Thorpe for his twelve years of service to LAMMICO.

UAMS College of Nursing Receives $100,000 for Scholarships

LITTLE ROCK — Nursing students at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Nursing will benefit from a $100,000 donation given to the program for scholarships.

"These kinds of gifts are extremely beneficial to helping College of Nursing students get their education and to set them off on a meaningful career path," said Claudia Barone, dean of the College of Nursing.

The gift was made by a donor who asked to remain anonymous. The scholarships have already been dispersed to help 71 junior- or senior-level students working towards Bachelor's of Science in Nursing degrees.

UAMS Awarded Nearly $20 Million for Clinical and Translational Research

LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has been awarded nearly $20 million – its largest ever research grant – by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to join an exclusive group of medical institutions nationwide.

The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) from the National Center for Research Resources of the NIH is a highly sought-after grant among institutions that aim to translate basic science discoveries into speedier treatments and cures for patients.

The consortium of grantees began in 2006. In 2012, when the program is fully implemented, the consortium will link about 60 institutions with a combined budget of $500 million to energize the discipline of clinical and translational science.

The $19.9 million grant will boost the UAMS Center for Clinical and Translational Research, which received prioritized funding from Wilson in May 2008. The center will occupy 24,000 square feet in the old UAMS hospital building that became available when the $198.4 million, 540,000-square-foot new hospital opened in January.

Curtis Lowery, M.D., chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at UAMS, was the lead investigator on the CTSA proposal and is the director of the UAMS Center for Clinical and Translational Research.

Lowery said the award will bolster research collaborations with UAMS partners such as Arkansas Children's Hospital, the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Department of Information Sciences, Arkansas Department of Health, the National Center for Toxicological Research and other institutions within the University of Arkansas System. Several other state and private agencies will also be involved.

Arkansas Children's Hospital Announces New Medical Staff Officers

LITTLE ROCK — New officers of the Medical Staff have been announced by Arkansas Children's Hospital. The primary roles of the officers are to provide leadership for self governance of the Medical Staff and to serve as the representatives of the Medical Staff in communication and decision-making with hospital leadership. Members fulfill two-year terms which extend from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2011. New officers are:

Charles Bower, MD – Chief of Staff
Tim Martin, MD, MBA – Vice Chief of Staff
Steve Schexnayder, MD – Secretary
Whit Hall, MD – Immediate Past Chief

Dr. Bower is chief of the Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology at Arkansas Children's Hospital and professor and vice chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Medicine. He has been a member of the Medical Staff Executive Committee at Arkansas Children's Hospital for more than 12 years. Dr. Bower has set quality of care and quality of patient and family experiences in the hospital and in clinics among his priorities as Chief of Staff.

Dr. Martin is chief of the Division of Pediatric Anesthesiology at Arkansas Children's Hospital and UAMS and professor of Pediatric Anesthesiology.

Dr. Schexnayder is chief of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine at Arkansas Children's Hospital and professor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine at the UAMS College of Medicine.

Dr. Hall is a neonatologist in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Arkansas Children's Hospital, chief of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at UAMS, and professor of Pediatrics - Section of Neonatology at the UAMS College of Medicine

St. Vincent's Winkler Named Vice-chair of ACMPE Board

Alan D. Winkler, FACMPE, vice president, Clinic Operations, St. Vincent Health System, is the new vice chairman of The American College of Medical Practice Executives (ACMPE) Board of Directors. Winkler's one-year term begins October 2009. At the end of his vice chairmanship in October 2010 Winkler will rise to the chairman's position. ACMPE supports and promotes the personal and professional growth of leaders to advance the medical practice management profession.

Konstantinos Arnaoutakis, M.D., Joins UAMS Division of Hematology Oncology

LITTLE ROCK – Konstantinos Arnaoutakis, M.D., has joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) as an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology Oncology. His primary clinical interests are lung cancer and head and neck cancer.

Arnaoutakis previously held the position of chief hematology and medical oncology fellow at St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, a teaching affiliate of Tufts University School of Medicine.

He received his medical degree from the University of Patras Medical School in Greece and completed his internship and residency at Albany Medical Center in Albany, N.Y.

Arnaoutakis is board certified in internal medicine and board eligible in hematology and medical oncology. He is a member of the American Medical Association, the American Society of Hematology and the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

Tim Norvell Named Arkansas Hospice Corporate Safety Officer

Tim Norvell has been named corporate safety officer of Arkansas Hospice. He will be responsible for integrating all patient care systems, including Durable Medical Equipment and patient care supplies, to provide the best in care to patients and families of Arkansas Hospice.

Neal Wyatt, DO, corporate medical director of Arkansas Hospice, has been selected to serve as a member of Palmetto GBA's Hospice Intermediary Advisory Committee for 2009-2011. The purpose of the committee is to provide information that will enhance proposed or existing hospice local coverage determinations (LCDs). Wyatt is one of 11 members chosen from nine states. He has worked at Arkansas Hospice since 2006 and became corporate medical director of the organization in 2007.

UAMS Opens State's First Adult Genetics Clinic

LITTLE ROCK – The opening of the new UAMS Genetics Clinic today marked a new era in care for Arkansans with Down syndrome and a step toward personalized medicine.

The clinic, on the sixth floor of Freeway Medical Tower, 5800 West 10th St., provides specialty care not previously available in Arkansas for patients with genetic syndromes. The clinic, along with the recently endowed chair in clinical genetics, is being supported in part with a gift from Lisenne Rockefeller in honor of her late husband Winthrop P. Rockefeller, the philanthropist and former lieutenant governor.

The clinic will primarily serve adolescents and adults. Younger patients will continue to receive genetics-related care at UAMS' pediatric affiliate Arkansas Children's Hospital.