HJAR Nov/Dec 2020

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  NOV / DEC 2020 21 outcome. And, our team remains construc- tively dissatisfied as we know we can and have to push the performance bar higher. Talk about your relationship with the Arkansas Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (ARCOM). What kind of ben- efits are there with having the school so close to Mercy? TheArkansas Colleges of Healthcare Edu- cation has been a huge addition to our com- munity and is arguably the biggest game changer for the River Valley in the past de- cade. We have a great relationship withAR- COM, including the addition of a newMercy Clinic adjacent to their campus for faculty and students to see patients. ACHE donated land for us to build a new 50-bed inpatient rehabilitation facility, which is slated to open June 2021. This nicely complements their newest college for physical and oc- cupational therapists. And, in partnership withARCOM, Mercy has recently made ap- plication to support a family medicine and internal medicine residency. So, we are very grateful for this relationship and howwe will be able to continue to partner together and build a healthier community in the future. hospitals, facilities, and laboratories to en- sure the data submitted has all the essential elements, and is in the format required by current regulations and guidelines. What do you see as the future of healthcare in Fort Smith? With two strong community-minded systems in Fort Smith (Mercy and Baptist) and the massive investments being made by ACHE, I believe Fort Smith has as compel- ling of a story as any community in our mul- tistate region. Our area public schools and graduate schools are pursuing innovative ways to address our workforce challenges as well. Fort Smith is on the rise, and the medical community is playing a strong role in our community’s resurgence. n