HJAR Nov/Dec 2021

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  NOV / DEC 2021 33 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalAR.com health unit in Arkansas will be hosting a commu- nity flu vaccine clinic, which is typically a day-long event when the health unit and numerous com- munity volunteers come together to provide flu vaccine to as many people as possible. The shot is available at no charge. People should bring their insurance cards with them to the flu vaccine clinic. If anyone does not have insurance, or the insurance does not cover flu vaccine, the vaccine will still be available at no charge. Contact the nearest local health unit for information about community flu vaccine clin- ics. Local health unit contact information can be found at www.healthy.arkansas.gov . “The flu should not be taken lightly,” said Jen- nifer Dillaha, MD, chief medical officer. “We are encouraging everyone to get a flu vaccine to pro- tect themselves and their families, because it is hard to predict in advance how severe the flu sea- son is going to be. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it is especially important to keep your- self healthy and out of the hospital.” The flu is easily spread through coughing or sneezing and by touching something, such as a doorknob, with the virus on it and then touching the nose or mouth. Good hand washing habits are important in preventing the flu; however, the best way to prevent the flu is to get the vaccine. UAMS Receives Additional $4.75M to Train Primary Care Physicians, Improve Rural Healthcare The University of Arkansas for Medical Sci- ences (UAMS) has received an additional $4.75 million in federal grant money to continue efforts to improve healthcare in rural Arkansas through training and retaining primary care physicians. The supplemental award from the Health Resources and Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Ser- vices, comes in the third year of a four-year med- ical student education grant. UAMS initially received $4.6 million in 2019, followed by an additional $2.83 million in 2020, to fund a multipronged approach to enhancing medical student education at UAMS as part of the Arkansas Medical Education Primary Care Part- nerships project. The project aims to recruit and retain medi- cal students from rural and underserved areas of Arkansas in the hopes that they return to prac- tice in those areas. It also aims to create more opportunities for students to practice primary care in those areas through service projects and mentoring; to increase the number of rural clinical rota- tion sites; to provide training and development opportunities for new faculty at those sites; and to strengthen partnerships with the Commu- nity Health Centers of Arkansas, Arkansas Rural Health Partnership and historically black colleges and universities — the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and Philander Smith College in Little Rock. “This continued funding allows us to make fur- ther progress in addressing the physician short- age in Arkansas, particularly in rural areas, as part of our mission to improve the health of all Arkan- sans,” said Cam Patterson, MD, MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. The number of available physicians per popula- tion in Arkansas is among the lowest in the nation, a fact that Patterson said has been highlighted by the pandemic — particularly the delta variant that hit Arkansas hard. Yalcin Hacioglu, MD, Joins Conway Regional Cardiovascular Clinic Yalcin Hacioglu, MD, an interventional cardiol- ogist, has joined the Conway Regional Cardio- vascular Clinic. Hacioglu will be practicing alongside Don Steely, MD, and Rimsha Hasan, MD, in the diagnosis, treat- ment and management of cardiovascular disease at Conway Regional. He has more than 20 years of experience as an interventional cardiologist and has practiced throughout Central Arkansas. Hacioglu completed a fellowship at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock and a residency and internship at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York. Washington Regional and UAMS Partner for Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinic Washington Regional, in partnership with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), has opened the Washington Regional Maternal Fetal Medicine Clinic. The clinic, located inside the Women and Infants Center on the Washington Regional campus in Fayette- ville, brings the expertise of UAMS’ maternal fetal medicine specialists to patients in North- west Arkansas. The Washington Regional Mater- nal Fetal Medicine Clinic provides assessment, diagnosis and management of high-risk pregnan- cies, including problems associated with multiple births, heart disease, gestational diabetes, phys- ical and genetic fetal abnormalities, and other conditions. The clinic is staffed by four maternal fetal medi- cine physician specialists from UAMS and a local nurse practitioner. They are Nafisa Dajani, MD, Dawn Hughes, MD, Everett Magann, MD, Adam Sandlin, MD, and Alissa Scherer, APRN. “This collaboration provides Northwest Arkan- sas women with high-risk pregnancies access to the largest team of board-certified maternal fetal medicine specialists in the state,” said Washing- ton Regional President and CEO Larry Shackelford. “Our mission at Washington Regional is to improve the health of people in the communities we serve through compassionate, high-quality care. This new partnership with UAMS helps us further that mis- sion, and Washington Regional is proud to offer this specialized care here in Northwest Arkansas.” Arkansas Hospice Awarded $50,000 Grant to Reach Rural Black Communities The Arkansas Hospice Foundation has received a $50,000 grant from the Rita & Alex Hillman Foundation to educate African American com- munities in rural Arkansas about the benefits of hospice and palliative care. Part of the Hillman Serious Illness and End of Life Emergent Innovation Program, the award Yalcin Hacioglu, MD