HJAR Sep/Oct 2019

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  SEP / OCT 2019 57 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalAR.com their children,” said Arkansas Children’s Hospi- tal Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Offi- cer Greg Sharp, MD. “Verification is a rigorous process and ensures our surgical program meets uncompromising standards.” Verified centers must meet criteria outlined in the standards document, Optimal Resources for Children’s Surgical Care 2015. CSV standards ensure children facing surgery receive care under a multidisciplinary program with quality improve- ment and safety processes, data collection, and appropriate resources provided to them as patients at the hospital. The CSV program is based on other nationally recognized American College of Surgeons qual- ity improvement programs that have measurably improved surgical quality and have prevented complications, reduced costs, and saved lives. To become a verified center, Arkansas Children’s Hospital met essential criteria for staffing, training, and facility infrastructure and protocols for care, ensuring its ability to appropriately care for chil- dren who are surgical patients. The center also participates in a national data registry that yields semiannual reports on the quality of its processes and outcomes, identifying opportunities for con- tinuous quality improvement. After submitting an application, ACH under- went an extensive site visit by an ACS team of surveyors, including experienced pediatric sur- geons, anesthesiologists, and nurses who review the center’s structure, process, and clinical out- comes data. UAMS Stroke ProgramWins Two Awards for Excellence in Care Excellence in treating stroke patients recently garnered two awards for the University of Arkan- sas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Stroke Program. On June 7 at the Clinton Presidential Center, the American Heart Association honored the program with the Target: Stroke Elite Honor Roll and Get with the Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus award. The Arkansas Department of Health recognized the program with a Defect Free Stroke Patient Care award for the overall quality of UAMS’ stroke care performance. The Target: Stroke Honor Roll Elite recogni- tion acknowledges the program’s compliance with standards for quick and timely treatment of stroke. The Get with the Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus status recognizes the program’s continued high performance by those measures for two or more consecutive years after receiving a Gold or Silver award. “This year’s honors from the American Heart Association and Health Department show that not only has the stroke care team at UAMS worked hard to achieve these high standards of care for our patients, but we have continued to maintain those standards over several years,” said Mat- thew Mitchell, MNSc, RN, director of the stroke program. “We’re grateful for these awards. They motivate us to maintain our achievements and even work to surpass them.” In July of 2018, UAMS Medical Center became the first and only healthcare provider in Arkansas to be certified as a Comprehensive Stroke Center by The Joint Commission. The Joint Commission is an independent, not-for-profit organization that evaluates and accredits more than 20,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. According to the Joint Commission, the certifi- cation is the most demanding accreditation and is designed for those hospitals that have the spe- cific abilities to receive and treat the most com- plex stroke cases. U.S. News &World Report Ranks 5 Arkansas Children’s Hospital Specialties Among its 2019-20 List of Best Children’s Hospitals U.S. News & World Report has ranked Arkansas Children’s Hospital in five specialties in the new 2019-20 Best Children’s Hospitals rankings. The state’s only pediatric health system has the fol- lowing programs ranked among the national list: • Cardiology and heart surgery • Neurology and neurosurgery • Nephrology • Orthopedics • Pulmonology “We are gratified that U.S. News &World Report recognizes the tremendous advancements hap- pening for child health at Arkansas Children’s Hospital,” said Marcy Doderer, FACHE, Arkan- sas Children’s president and CEO. “We’re also celebrating that this year’s rankings included our orthopedics program for the first time. Above all, I am proud of our team’s unyielding commitment to making children better today and healthier tomor- row across our entire system.” The 13th annual Best Children’s Hospitals rank- ings recognize the top 50 pediatric facilities across the U.S. in 10 pediatric specialties: cancer, cardi- ology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocri- nology, gastroenterology and gastrointestinal sur- gery, neonatology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology and lung surgery, and urology. “The Best Children’s Hospitals rankings were designed to help provide families seeking the best medical care for their sick child with access to the most comprehensive data available,” said Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis at U.S. News. “The rankings, coupled with guidance from pediatricians, help families make better-informed decisions about where to find high-quality, compassionate care for their chil- dren when they need it most.” White River Health System Hires Chelsey Davis, RN, as Oncology Nurse Navigator White River Health System (WRHS) welcomed Chelsey Davis, RN, as the oncology nurse navi- gator at White River Medical Center (WRMC). Chelsey will be working with the Radiology Department as a patient advocate who sees patients through the entire cancer process includ- ing biopsies, surgeries, treatment, and recovery. Davis received an associate of applied science in nursing from the University of Arkansas Com- munity College at Batesville (UACCB). Davis has seven years of combined experience in hospice, nursing, and oncology. Five of those years were Chelsey Davis, RN