October Grand Rounds

Leadership Changes at St. Anthony's Announced

MORRILTON — St. Anthony's Medical Center is pleased to announced the addition of two new members of the Leadership Team.

Patricia Chiolak, RN, has been named Surgery Manager. Chiolak has over 30 years of nursing experience, with 17 years in a management capacity. She brings 27 years of surgical experiences, including operations manager, coordinator, staff nurse, and scrub tech for surgical services. She is a member of the Association of Operating Room Nurses, the Arkansas State Board Association, and the American Nurses Association. Chiolak is board certified in Perioperative Nursing and she holds Colorado and Arkansas nursing licenses.

Troy Barker was recently transitioned from St. Vincent's Doctors Hospital to St. Anthony's Medical Center as Facility Manager. Barker was with the St. Vincent Health System for eight years, serving most recently on the Leadership Team for Doctors Hospital where he was the Facilities Manager since 2004. Barker is directly responsible for Facilities, Maintenance, Environmental Services, Safety & Security, and Linen Departments at St. Anthony's.

In an effort to continually develop the leaders of St. Anthony's, the responsibilities for three directors were recently expanded.

Mollie Fisher's role as Director for Health Information Management and Corporate Compliance Officer has been expanded to include Resource Manager for the Business Office and Care Management Staff. In this role, Mollie will provide local leadership in coordination with Julie Carpenter, Administrative Director Revenue Cycle and Donna Crutchfield, Manager of Business office, with St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center. A Morrilton native, Fisher is a certified Registered Health Information Administrator. She joined St. Anthony's in 2001 as an Outpatient Coding Specialist and was soon promoted to Director of Health Information Management. Fisher is a graduate of Arkansas Tech University where she received a Bachelors of Science degree in Health Information Management.

Sharlene Mourot, RN, has been named Director of Quality and Clinical Support. This change will expand Sharlene's role, which currently includes supervision for Quality, Compliant Documentation Management Program (CDMP), State Health Compliance, Case Management and Transportation, to also include oversight for Infection Control, Education, and Employee Health. Over the course of her 29 years with St. Anthony's, Mourot has shown strong leadership with quality initiatives and the implementation of the CDMP program.

John Briggler has been named Director of Facility and Support Services, expanding his role as Director for Materials Management to include supervision for Special Projects, Facilities and disaster recovery. Briggler holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Management and has over 30 years of Materials Management experience, including Crompton Mills and Tyson Foods; he joined St. Anthony's in 2006.

St. Edward Mercy Medical Center Goes "Green" With On-Campus Shuttle Service

FORT SMITH — St. Edward Mercy Medical Center will launch a "green" on-campus shuttle service, St. Edward Auxiliary Go Getters, beginning in October. The vehicles were dedicated at recently at the main Centers of Excellence entrance.

The St. Edward Mercy Auxiliary purchased two blue Global Electric Motorcars e6 vehicles to provide an on-campus shuttle service for patients and visitors of the St. Edward Mercy Medical Center. The battery-electric vehicles will provide service Monday through Friday.

The zero-emissions vehicles seat six and are equipped with six 12-volt maintenance-free gel batteries plus a 7.0 horsepower motor.

Both vehicles will operate simultaneously during the week by driving through the parking lots looking for those in need of assistance.

Cancer Surgeon Badgwell Joins UAMS

LITTLE ROCK — Brian Badgwell, M.D., who specializes in gastrointestinal surgical oncology, has joined the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Department of Surgery.

Badgwell, an assistant professor in the UAMS College of Medicine, received his medical degree from Texas A&M University. He completed an internship and general surgery residency at The Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. He completed a surgical oncology fellowship at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and a research fellowship in surgical oncology at The Ohio State University Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Research Institute in Columbus. He won numerous research awards as a resident.

Badgwell is certified by the American Board of Surgery and is a member of several professional organizations, including the Society of Surgical Oncology.
His clinical interests include pancreatic cancer, colon cancer metastatic to the liver, gastric cancer and melanoma.

National Breast Cancer Grant Awarded to Researcher Kelly at UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute

LITTLE ROCK — A researcher at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is among a highly selective group of scientists to receive a breast cancer research award from the U.S. Department of Defense.

Thomas Kelly, Ph.D., associate professor of pathology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), was awarded the department's Synergistic Idea Award for his breast cancer research project focusing on the role of fibroblast activation protein-alpha (FAP) in breast cancer metastasis. Metastasis refers to the transference of cancerous cells from their original site to another location in the body.

Out of 134 grants submitted for this award, Kelly's project was one of only 14 selected for funding. The award includes a two-year grant of $361,203 and will operate as a collaborative effort between Kelly's group at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute and the research group led by Patrick McKee, M.D., at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center in Oklahoma City.

"Metastasis is the most deadly feature of breast cancer," Kelly said. "If our research is successful, it will help define the role that FAP plays in breast cancer growth and in its spread to other parts of the body. We hope that this knowledge can be used to advance preventive and therapeutic treatments for patients."

The project will explore FAP's role in promoting aggressive behavior of breast cancer cells. The scientists will test the theory that the protein known as FAP actually facilitates breast cancer growth and metastases by cleaving protein into fragments that may encourage the formation of blood vessels that nourish the expansion of cancer.

The research teams at UAMS and the University of Oklahoma will explore the possibility that FAP protects breast cancer cells that are traveling in the body by mediating the rapid coating of the tumor cells with fibrin, the blood protein that is a major component of blood clots. "The fibrin coating may help the tumor cells survive and escape to allow the spread of cancer in other parts of the body," Kelly said.

$2 Million Gift to Benefit Orthopaedic Center

LITTLE ROCK — A donation of $2 million from the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation will benefit construction of the Carl Nelson Orthopaedic Center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

The center will be located in the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute expansion, which is under construction and scheduled to open in 2010. It includes a program dedicated to the study of orthopaedic tumors.

"Our family is honored to be a part of establishing this center in recognition of Dr. Carl Nelson," said Debbie Walker, executive director of the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation. "He was a dear friend to us, and also happened to be a well-respected physician.

The late Carl Nelson, M.D., a pioneer in hip and knee replacement, was chairman of the UAMS Department of Orthopaedic Surgery from 1974 until his death in 2005. While at UAMS, he developed the first practice in Arkansas dedicated solely to joint replacement surgery and helped the group grow from a faculty and staff of two to a team of 50 who have received national and international recognition for their work.   Nelson was recognized for his efforts in 2000 with the Carl L. Nelson Endowed Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery, designed to support research in orthopaedic disease and musculoskeletal injuries.

In 2006, Richard Evans, M.D., assumed Nelson's clinical practice. Evans completed his residency and research fellowship at UAMS under Nelson. He continued to collaborate with Nelson on research projects for many years after returning to Denver following his residency.

The Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation has a long history of support at UAMS dating back to the family's first donation to the UAMS Radiology Department in 1986. Major gifts from the foundation have funded the Pat and Willard Walker Tower, which houses the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, and the Pat and Willard Walker Eye Research Center at the UAMS Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, among other programs.

Nair Joins UAMS Myeloma Institute as Assistant Professor

LITTLE ROCK— Bijay Nair, M.D., has joined the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) as an assistant professor in its Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy.

Nair will see patients primarily in the Myeloma Institute's outpatient clinic. He received his medical degree from the University of Kerala in India and completed his residency in internal medicine at UAMS. Nair also completed a fellowship in hematology/oncology at UAMS, and holds a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Minnesota.

Arkansas Children's Hospital Breaks Ground on $115 Million Wing

LITTLE ROCK — Arkansas Children's Hospital brought the dirt indoors to celebrate the groundbreaking of a new $115 million wing that eventually will allow it to care for thousands more sick children every year. The hospital held its first-ever indoor groundbreaking because the rainy weather had saturated the site of the new South Wing.

The hospital community gathered in Children's Hall to celebrate the start of work on the expansive facility, which will feature an entirely new emergency department and dozens of modern clinic rooms. When the construction is complete, the new Arkansas Children's Hospital South Wing will add 54 inpatient beds to the hospital's current total of 316.

Anticipated funds to build the facility will come from cash reserves, philanthropic donations and projected bond issues. The ACH South Wing is expected to open for occupancy in the fall of 2011.

"The new South Wing will allow Arkansas Children's Hospital to deliver an unprecedented level of care to the kids who need it most," said ACH President and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Bates, MD. "We'll be delighted to see the day when we open its doors and can help more patients recover and simply get back to being kids."

In the past few years, ACH has stretched to meet the demands of caring for the state's youngest patients. This has been felt particularly in the Emergency Department (ED), the Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit (CVICU) and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Each of these areas will be expanded with the addition of the South Wing.

In Fiscal Year 2008, Arkansas Children's Hospital served approximately 240 patients each day, and the new South Wing will allow the hospital to treat significantly more.

On Thursday, several city and state officials, including Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe, joined the hospital to commemorate the groundbreaking. They turned dirt that had been imported for the occasion and explained the statewide need for expanded capacity for children's health care.

The nearly 260,000 square-foot South Wing will open much-needed space for providing the highest standard of pediatric care possible. The new ED will include telemedicine technology and four trauma rooms, as well as a dedicated orthopedics suite and a decontamination unit. In addition, the South Wing will open new space for the NICU and CVICU to accommodate the growing demand for their services. An entirely new Hematology/Oncology unit will open in the South Wing for the state's pediatric cancer and blood disorder patients, as will a new inpatient unit dedicated for care of infants through 3-year-olds.

The project actually will provide about 100 new patient beds, but the hospital plans to retire many that date back more than 40 years. The net increase in patient beds will be 54. The new South Wing also will include 56 new exam rooms, as well as 19 new procedural or diagnostic rooms. A roof garden complete with benches, Arkansas foliage and play areas will be open to patients, families and employees.

The South Wing will rise four stories and will be located on land that is now a parking lot just south of the main hospital and west of its Roy & Christine Sturgis Building. The finished facility will sit in the vicinity of Battery Street and 10th Street. The facility was designed by Cromwell Architects and will be built by Nabholz Construction.

UAMS Begins Landmark Myeloma Clinical Trials with Treatment Driven by Tumor Genetics

LITTLE ROCK — Armed with a method for identifying patients with a more aggressive or less aggressive form of multiple myeloma based on tumor cell gene activity, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) researchers are beginning clinical trials with treatment plans for this cancer of the bone marrow tailored for each group.

The UAMS Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy is starting two clinical trials with treatment plans that identify patients as having low-risk myeloma (Total Therapy 4) or a high-risk form of the disease (Total Therapy 5). They are believed to be the first clinical trials for multiple myeloma or any other cancer to involve risk-specific treatment plans based on the genetic makeup of the tumor.

The new trials come as 25 percent of the 231 patients enrolled in UAMS' initial multiple myeloma clinical trial, known as Total Therapy 1, are still alive beyond 10 years all the way out to 18 years. Almost 60 percent of those enrolled in a 1998 clinical trial, Total Therapy 2, are still alive. With Total Therapy 3, initiated in 2003, 85 percent of almost 480 patients enrolled are currently alive.

"With these new clinical trials, combined with the 19 years of patient data, we believe we can quit saying 'myeloma is incurable,'" said Bart Barlogie, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Myeloma Institute.

With the new trials, some low-risk patients will be given a different version of standard Total Therapy 3 intended to limit side effects. Total Therapy 5 for high-risk patients aims at more effective tumor control by stressing short intervals between treatment cycles ("dose-dense"), however at relaxed dose intensity.

These clinical trials evolved from results of the Total Therapy 3 program at the Myeloma Institute showing 85 percent of those with low-risk multiple myeloma still alive after four years, 90 percent of whom continue in complete remission with no signs of multiple myeloma.

"With the availability of new treatment approaches and drugs, most patients do remarkably well with current therapies for multiple myeloma, but we know that others do not," said John Shaughnessy, Ph.D., director of the Donna D. and Donald M. Lambert Laboratory of Myeloma Genetics at the Myeloma Institute. "Until recently the means of predicting the difference in outcome was rudimentary and not very accurate. Without the ability to accurately identify high- and low-risk disease, past treatments were given according to a 'one size fits all' approach.

Northwest Health System Launches New Program for Women

SPRINGDALE — Northwest Health System has announced a monthly series of free seminars, health fairs, educational programs and interactive events that will focus on women, also known as the Healthy Woman Program. The program will kicked off with a major event (a health fair, women's expo, dinner and nationally known speaker on women's issues) on Oct. 21.

The Healthy Woman Program is dedicated to improving the emotional, physical and fiscal well-being of both women and the families for which they care.

Women, who make between 80 and 90 percent of all healthcare decisions, often balance careers, primary and secondary families, issues with parents and civic activism. Healthy Woman was created by women, for women to provide up-to-date healthcare information for their entire families. The program's mission is to empower the women of Northwest Arkansas with the knowledge and confidence to make informed healthcare and well-being decisions for themselves and their loved ones.

The monthly Healthy Woman presentations will cover physical and emotional healthcare, as well as financial well-being and spiritual development. Healthcare topics will include pertinent information on heart disease, diabetes, breast cancer, menopause, nutrition, osteoporosis, stress-management and life-balance issues.

For more information about Healthy Woman, the health fair or to purchase tickets, visit www.northwesthealth.com.

St. Edward Mercy Medical Center unveils Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Transport vehicle

FORT SMITH — St. Edward Mercy Medical Center unveiled its Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Transport vehicle at a dedication ceremony recently. The neonatal transport vehicle will transfer infants requiring the services that only a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit can provide, from other facilities to the St. Edward Mercy Medical Center NICU. The St. Edward Mercy Medical Center offers the only Level III NICU in the region.

The addition of the NICU Transport to the St. Edward Mercy NICU is a vital step in meeting the region's growing need for intensive care for neonatal patients. The ability to keep infants and their families close to home while receiving care is crucial to meeting the needs of the community St. Edward Mercy serves.

The specially-designed transport vehicle was purchased with funds raised by the St. Edward Mercy Auxiliary. The vehicle contains specialized equipment designed to handle the needs of a critically-ill infant. The vehicle will be staffed by a specially-trained Transport Team, which will include a respiratory therapist and Registered Nurse.

The NICU Transport will serve select locations in Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. The vehicle will begin transporting infants in Arkansas in September and will provide service to eastern Oklahoma as early as November. The transport is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. St. Edward Mercy anticipates transporting three to five infants per month in the first year.

Once transported to the NICU, the infant's specialized care is under the supervision of neonatologist Dr. Victor Coloso.

Prior to arriving at St. Edward Mercy Medical Center, Dr. Coloso was in private practice in Martin County and Palm Beach, Florida. He completed his pediatrics residency at Monmouth Medical Center in Long Branch, New Jersey, and his neonatology fellowship at the University of Miami at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
The St. Edward Mercy Medical Center launched the NICU in November 2006 when it hired Dr. Coloso. The NICU serves infants born at 26 weeks of gestation and later. The NICU nursery has a 25-isolette capacity and has served almost 500 infants and their families since the nursery opened.

St. Bernards Development Foundation Breaks Ground for Flo and Phil Jones Hospice House

The St. Bernards Development Foundation held formal groundbreaking for the construction of the Flo and Phil Jones Hospice House Tuesday 9 Sept. at 1148 East Matthews Ave.

The free-standing hospice house will significantly enhance hospice services in Northeast Arkansas, providing a facility at which specially trained nurses and volunteers will provide exceptional care and support for individuals (and their families) who are facing end-of-life illness. The $5.5 million facility will be located east of the St. Bernards Imaging Center.

The Foundation embarked on a capital campaign early this year to raise money for the hospice house which will honor two long-time Jonesboro pillars – the late Flo and Phil Jones – who worked selflessly to ensure this community could meet needs of residents. Called "A Gift of Peace," the campaign moved into its public phase in July and now has raised just over $4 million of the $5.5 million goal. 

At the new hospice house, specially trained hospice nurses and care teams will be available at all times of the day and night. Physicians will be able to make rounds, and family and friends will be welcome. Its atmosphere will be home-like, warm, welcoming and peaceful.

Under the leadership of capital campaign chairman Barry Ledbetter and with the Jones family serving as honorary chairmen, the Foundation is continuing efforts to raise money to complete the 19,000-square-foot hospice house on land between the St. Bernards Imaging Center and Matthews Medical Plaza.

Construction will begin immediately, with the opening of the hospice house expected in 2009.

Baptist Health Announces Purchase Of Former Southwest Hospital Building

LITTLE ROCK — Baptist Health has purchased the buildings and the campus that housed the former Southwest Regional Medical Center located at 11401 I-30 in southwest Little Rock.

The 36-acre campus includes the 120,000-square-foot former hospital and the adjacent 43,000-square-foot medical office building.

Baptist Health plans to create capacity for inpatient acute-care services on the main campus of Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock by relocating support and patient-care services to the southwest campus.

The transition of these services is expected to occur over the next 12-18 months.
Baptist Health does not have plans to utilize the newly acquired southwest campus facilities as an acute-care hospital.

New St. Vincent Emergency Department Opens For Patients

LITTLE ROCK — The new St. Vincent Emergency Department, under construction at St. Vincent Infirmary Medical Center in Little Rock since March 2007, opened recently. The new facility is part of a $47 million dollar expansion project for St. Vincent. Ten million of the project's funding was earmarked for expanding emergency and critical care capacity in line with the increasing national demand for emergency care.

The new emergency department includes enhanced patient parking, a separate entrance for walk-up patients, new waiting room space designed to place family members closer to their loved ones who are being treated, unique family access to respective care areas and a complement of universal exam rooms and major resuscitation rooms.