HJAR May/Jun 2021

30 MAY / JUN 2021  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   Healthcare Briefs providing treatment services, and even travel costs for patients using medication-assisted treatment. “We are really the stewards of the money, our job is to give it away,” said Michael Mancino, MD, a professor in the UAMS College of Medi- cine’s Department of Psychiatry who oversees the MATRIARC program. “We are working with clin- ics already providing medication-assisted treat- ment to people below the poverty line, so they don’t have to turn anyone away. We look forward to continuing these efforts with previous and new awardees.” Medication-assisted treatment includes meth- adone, which can only be dispensed through an opiate treatment program; products containing buprenorphine, which require a federal waiver for prescribers; and injectable naltrexone, which does not require special qualifications for pre- scribing. Research has shown that a combination of medication-assisted treatment and behavioral therapy can successfully treat opioid use disorder and help sustain recovery. Brandon Ingram, MD, Joins CHI St. Vincent Medical Group CHI St. Vincent announced that surgeon Bran- don Ingram, MD, has joined the team of more than 300 physicians and medical providers with the CHI St. Vincent Medical Group. Ingram will begin seeing patients at the CHI St. Vincent Sur- gery Clinic and CHI St. Vincent Little Rock Diag- nostic Clinic. “Dr. Ingram is a committed surgeon with vast experience in general surgery,” said David Fos- ter, MD, president of the CHI St. Vincent Medi- cal Group. “The addition of Dr. Ingram and his support in developing additional future surgery programs at the Infirmary reinforces our commit- ment to provide quality, compassionate care to our patients in Central Arkansas.” Ingram previously served as a general and bar- iatric surgeon at Southern Surgery and Urology in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He attended medical school at the University of Mississippi School of Medicine, where he also completed a residency in general surgery. The CHI St. Vincent Medical Group is a multi- specialty network that connects primary care doc- tors with their colleagues in surgery, cardiology, and many other medical fields. Emergency phy- sicians and hospitalists are also part of the medi- cal group to allow primary care providers to stay connected when patients visit CHI St. Vincent. Broadband Grants up to $75,000 Remain Available to Rural Arkansas Communities through UAMS Grants of up to $75,000 each are available to help rural Arkansas communities apply for fed- eral grants and loans to make broadband acces- sible to their residents. Last year, $2 million was allocated as part of the Rural Broadband I.D. Expenses Trust Fund Grant. The program is funded by the state’s Restricted Reserve Fund and federal coronavirus aid allo- cated by the Arkansas Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act Steering Commit- tee created by Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Just over $1 million remains available, and grant applications will be reviewed and awarded through June 30, 2021. The broadband program is managed by the Institute for Digital Health & Innovation at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). For more information about the pro- gram or to apply for the funds, visit https://idhi. uams.edu/rural-broadband-grant. CHI St. Vincent Infirmary Cardiovascular Surgeons Receive Recognition Cardiovascular surgeons with the CHI St. Vin- cent Heart Institute at the Infirmary in Little Rock earned a distinguished three-star rating for patient care and outcomes in mitral valve replacement and repair (MVRR) surgery with cor- onary artery bypass grafting (CABG) from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS). The STS star rating system is one of the most sophisticated and highly regarded overall measures of quality in healthcare and the three-star rating denotes the highest category of quality the system bestows. “This recognition confirms something that we have long known. It recognizes that our cardio- vascular surgeons with the CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute are among the elite surgeons for these procedures, not just here in Arkansas, but across the country,” said Marcia Atkinson, president of the CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute. In August, CHI St. Vincent Infirmary was also recognized as the best hospital in Arkansas for cardiology and heart surgery in the 2020–21 Best Hospital Rankings from U.S. News & World Report. “Our heart surgeons not only go above and beyond for our patients each and every day, but as a team, we constantly strive to improve that level of exceptional, compassionate care for our community,” said CHI St. Vincent cardiovascu- lar surgeon Michael Bauer, MD. “This recogni- tion of quality care from The Society of Thoracic Surgeons further demonstrates why our patients trust our surgeons when they require the very best in heart care.” The latest analysis of data for MVRR+CABG sur- gery covers a three-year period from July 2017 to June 2020 and includes 3,800 participants. STS benchmarks outcomes of cardiothoracic surgery programs using a combination of quality mea- sures for specific procedures performed by data- base participants. The STS National Database was established in 1989 as an initiative for quality improvement and patient safety among cardio- thoracic surgeons and gathers information from more than 3,800 participating physicians, includ- ing surgeons and anesthesiologists from more than 90% of hospitals that perform heart surgery in the United States. “Participation in the database and public reporting demonstrates a commitment to quality improvement in health care delivery and provides patients and their families with meaningful infor- mation to help them make informed decisions about health care,” said David M. Shahian, MD, chair of the Task Force on Quality Measurement. Brandon Ingram, MD