HJAR Jan/Feb 2021

38 JAN / FEB 2021  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   Healthcare Briefs contributions to the PROACT Xa clinical trial and high-priority heart care research. The Heart Insti- tute is working with the cardiac and vascular sur- gery company CryoLife, Inc. on a trial to answer vital clinical questions in the care of heart patients who receive mechanical heart valves. “Our role in this important research is indic- ative of CHI St. Vincent’s healing ministry and commitment to delivering the most advanced, compassionate care to our communities across Arkansas which suffer from a high prevalence of cardiac disease, stroke, obesity, and diabetes,” said Rayburn. CHI St. Vincent was the first participating research partner to enroll a patient in the ran- domized, clinical trial which will include approxi- mately 1,000 patients across the U.S. and Canada. The research is part of a Linked Clinical Research Centers seven-year initiative through the Cardio- thoracic Surgical Trials Network (CTSN), part of the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). The CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute announced in August of 2019 that it would partner with Penn Medicine as one of five qualified institutions nationwide to participate in the research program in order to accelerate high-priority clinical research efforts related to heart surgery and implement novel approaches into surgical practice. Kaitlynn Britton, APRN, JoinsWalker Heart Institute Cardiovascular Clinic Kaitlynn Britton, APRN, recently joined Wash- ington Regional’s Walker Heart Institute Car- diovascular Clinic where she provides care to patients with acute and chronic cardiovascular conditions. Britton earned a master of science in nursing from Belmont University and a bachelor of sci- ence in nursing from the University of Tulsa. She previously worked as a registered nurse at the Oklahoma Heart Institute in Tulsa. through policy, system, and environment change. Calloway joined NYITCOM in 2019 and has spent the last year serving as a regional adminis- trator in the college’s office of clinical education. In her new role, Calloway will facilitate the imple- mentation of the DPHI’s strategic plans, over- see the operations of community engagement teams, and provide oversight of transformative community initiatives. She will facilitate partner- ship engagements and deliver the technical assis- tance services of the DPHI. Prior to joining NYITCOM, Calloway served as the director of community development for the City of Jonesboro. CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute’s Thomas Rayburn, MD, and Lynn Bass, RN, Awarded for Contributions to Heart Research CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute’s Thomas Ray- burn III, MD, and Clinical Research Coordinator Lynn Bass, RN, have received awards for their CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute’s Thomas Rayburn, MD, and Lynn Bass, RN, Awarded for Contributions to Heart Research