HJAR Mar/Apr 2020

58 MAR / APR 2020  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS Hospital Rounds Unity Health – WCMC Names Dr. Lochala as Chief Medical Officer Dr. Roddy Lochala was recently named the new chief medical officer (CMO) at Unity Health – White County Medical Center in Searcy, Ark. Lochala received a bachelor’s degree in microbi- ology from the University of Arkansas in Fayette- ville and attended medical school at the Univer- sity of Health Sciences in Kansas City, Missouri. Before joining the Ray Montgomery Department of Graduate Medical Education family medicine residency program as associate program director in January of 2019, he worked in private practice for 17 years in Newport, Ark. As CMO, Lochala is a member of both the phy- sician and administrative teams, with a focus on ensuring patient safety, quality, and efficiency. He will also continue to work with the family medicine resident physicians in the Continuity Care Clinic at Searcy Medical Center. “As a physician and CMO, I have an opportu- nity to make an impact on the health and wellbe- ing of our community by ensuring quality care in our hospital and encouraging healthy behaviors outside of our hospital,” Lochala said. In addition to being CMO, Lochala is an Air National Guard flight surgeon and currently serves as chief of aerospace medicine for the 164th Air- lift Wing in Memphis, Tenn. He is on the board of directors of El Puente Hispanic Services Center in Searcy, Ark. where they help to provide services to the Hispanic community to aid in access to med- ical care, help with documentation, and provide English lessons. NewAnthony Childbirth Center at CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs Introduces Family- Centered Labor &Delivery Model to Southwest Arkansas CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs celebrated the grand opening of the new Anthony Childbirth Center, introducing a family-centered labor and delivery model to Southwest Arkansas. Major ren- ovations to the Hot Springs unit include 12 private birthing suites for families and a 100 percent labor, delivery, postpartum, and recovery (LDRP) model that keeps mother and child together from admis- sion to discharge. “We’re incredibly grateful for the generous support that helped make the new Anthony Childbirth Center a reality,” said CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs President Dr. Doug Ross. “Every mother and child born here receives the highest level of care and with our move to a true LDRP model, now they gain added care, instruction and resources to help them continue to thrive long after they leave the hospital.” The new Anthony Childbirth Center occupies a private wing on the fourth floor of CHI St. Vin- cent Hot Springs which cares for more than 1000 births each year. The $3.5-million renovation proj- ect includes family centered suites where mothers can labor, deliver, and recover in the same space without the need to relocate or be separated from their child at any point. That innovation allows the introduction of a 100 percent LDRP model that ensures each mother gets the prenatal care and access to education she needs to have a healthy delivery and provide the highest quality of care to their child after leaving the hospital. “This model provides us the opportunity for hands-on education with parents while their new- born is right beside them in the room. Our nurses train parents in couplet care, safe sleep practices, and everything else they need to know to care for their newborn,” said Marsha Oliver, nurse man- ager for Women’s Services at CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs. “It also provides a greater opportunity for a mother and newborn to bond in those pre- cious early hours of life with skin-to-skin contact. Couplet care allows our nurses to educate par- ents on safe sleep practices and learning to read their baby’s cues, whether they’re hungry, sleepy, or just need to be cuddled.” The significantly larger suites within the Anthony Childbirth Center also accommodate larger fam- ily support networks. Additional improvements include advanced patient monitoring; newborn bathing sinks with temperature controlled fau- cets and a radiant heating system to maintain the newborn’s body temperature during bathing; a new critical care nursery; and advanced training for nurses through the Arkansas Children’s Hospi- tal Nursery Alliance so more children and families that require advanced newborn care can receive that care closer to home. The new Anthony Childbirth Center was made possible by the generous support of local donors, including primary support from the Catherine Cooper Anthony Charitable Trust and additional Anthony family members. The pregnancy clinic at CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs, part of the network of CHI St. Vincent Community Care, also contin- ues to provide prenatal and obstetrical care for expectant mothers, including nutritional coun- seling, and the services of a social worker and a financial counselor to help ensure every mother has a healthy pregnancy, as well as support and encouragement. Medical Center of South Arkansas Announces New Rehabilitation Therapy Options Medical Center of South Arkansas Inpatient Rehab has acquired two new pieces of therapy equipment with electrical stimulation technology for treatment of patients recovering from accident or illness. MCSA will use this new equipment as the standard of care in rehabilitation therapy for many neurological conditions such as spinal cord injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, and brain injury to support positive therapeutic outcomes. Shelby Cater, MCSA Director of Inpatient Reha- bilitation, believes that, “this new equipment will give South Arkansas residents seeking recov- ery from accident or illness the opportunity to maximize their potential for return of prior level of function and improve their overall outcomes through advanced therapy services available close to home.” The new equipment’s electrical stimulation technology sends targeted stimulation to arm, core, and leg muscle groups with six to 12 inte- grated and coordinated channels of stimulation to Roddy Lochala, MD