HJAR Sep/Oct 2019

26 SEP / OCT 2019  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   Healthcare Briefs degree from the University of Central Arkansas in 2015 and has worked as an advance practice registered nurse at Gastro Arkansas since 2016. Prior to achieving her advanced practice degree, Sierra worked as a registered nurse in intensive care units at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and at NEA Baptist Memo- rial Hospital in Jonesboro. She was also a mem- ber of the adjunct nursing faculty at UCA. Arkansas Community Health Centers Fighting Opioid Addiction With Arkansas, and the nation, in the grips of an opioid epidemic, Community Health Centers are meeting the challenge by offering medica- tion assisted treatment (or MAT for short) to those who wish to free themselves from the shackles of addiction. Community Health Centers (CHCs) in recent weeks have embarked on a MAT program and hope to expand it to serving hundreds of patients within two years. MAT combines medication (to help wean patients off dangerous opioids) with addiction counseling and therapy (to help patients make the necessary lifestyle changes to keep them from relapse). “MAT is an integrated treatment model that really fits what Community Health Centers are all about,” said Byron Montgomery, director of clin- ical operations for Mainline Health Systems. “We have everything under one roof. Patients don’t have to worry about being stigmatized because as far as anyone will know, they could be coming to our clinic to treat a common cold. And, we’re going to see them regardless of whether they can pay or not. But they have to be totally engaged and completely dedicated to beating addiction.” CHCs are uniquely positioned to provide MAT in Arkansas. To successfully complete the pro- gram, multiple visits for an extended period of time are required. These can be costly, especially if a patient doesn’t have insurance. And, many insurance plans limit the number of counseling visits. In part because of the financial obstacles, MAT has been slow to grow in Arkansas. But CHCs are filling that gap. For those in finan- cial need, they provide care on a sliding fee scale based on income. Area CHCs include Community Clinic (Fay- etteville/Northwest AR), Mainline Health Sys- tems (Dermott, Monticello, Star City/Southeast AR), and MidDelta Health Systems (Clarendon/ AR Delta). Speech Language Pathologist Cathi Cranston Joins CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs Outpatient Rehabilitations Services CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs Outpatient Reha- bilitation Services welcomed speech language pathologist Cathi Cranston, CCC-SLP, to the Out- patient Therapy Services team. She brings over 34 years of experience in the field, working with patients of all ages, from adolescents to adults. Cranston provides therapy for stroke and brain injured adults with aphasia, cognitive-linguistic disorders, apraxia, dysarthria, swallowing, and augmentative communication. She is also trained in Vital Stim for patients with dysphagia, and cer- tified in Lee Silverman Voice Technique-LOUD. She joins CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs from the Baptist Health Rehabilitation Institute in Lit- tle Rock, where she served for over 12 years as a speech language pathologist. Cranston earned both Master and Bachelor of Science degrees in Speech Pathology from the University of Arkansas. Cranston is joining the Outpatient Rehabil- itation Services office at CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs South Campus located at 1662 Higdon Ferry Road. UAMS Names Jay Gandy Associate Provost for Northwest Regional Campus The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has named Jay Gandy, PhD, as associ- ate provost at the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus. As associate provost, Gandy will be responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership to all academic programs in Northwest Arkansas. Gandy is currently the interim dean of the UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, where he has served since Dec. 31, 2018. A longtime researcher, educator, and admin- istrator, Gandy joined UAMS in 1985, first in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the College of Medicine, and for the past 18 years as a professor and chair of the Environmental and Occupational Health Department in the College of Public Health. He has also served the UAMS Graduate School as director of the Occupational and Environmen- tal Health Master of Science Program (1996-2012), and since 2010, as director of the Regulatory Sci- ences Program. “Jay has proven himself a dedicated leader in the College of Public Health, and I am certain he will continue to excel and accomplish great things Lindsey Sierra, APRN Cathi Cranston, CCC-SLP