HJAR Sep/Oct 2021

Q&A 18 JUL / AUG 2021 I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   Will you give us an overview of health and healthcare in the areas that Arkansas Unity Health serves? Unity Health is the leading healthcare provider in our eight-county area. Our hospitals and clinics proudly serve many Arkansas counties including White, Jack- son, Cleburne, Independence, Lonoke, Prairie and Woodruff and will soon serve Pulaski County with Unity Health-Jack- sonville hospital and clinics opening in the summer of 2022. Many of the areas we serve are small towns or rural communities. Our communities need a healthcare system that offers a wide variety of quality services without having to travel long distances to get routine and specialized care. Because we are a locally operated non- profit healthcare system, we can determine the needs of the communities we serve and then bring in the resources to meet those needs locally with excellent patient care. Unity Health began right here in Searcy in 1967 as White County Memorial Hospi- tal. It was started because the community wanted a local hospital that would serve White County residents. We’ve grown a lot over the years, and the name has changed a couple of times in respect to this growth, but we have never been bought or sold to any other company. Unity Health has always been locally operated by people living and raising their families right here in our com- munity. We are proud to be an Arkansas- based nonprofit healthcare organization servingArkansas communities. This allows us the flexibility and decision-making abil- ity to focus on meeting the local needs for health and wellness. One of the great things about Unity Health is the array of quality services and specialists we can offer our patients locally. We have many family practices and pedi- atric physicians and clinics. Additionally, we have skilled, experienced specialists focused on meeting patient needs in areas including cardiology, neurology, oncology, orthopedics, spine and back surgery, rheu- matology, podiatry, pulmonology, urology and many other areas. We can provide our patients with expert care in facilities such as the Pyeatt Family Cancer Center, sleep lab, wound care, long-term acute care hos- pital, Continuity Care Clinic, inpatient and outpatient physical rehabilitation, as well as inpatient and outpatient behavioral health for all ages. At the time of this interview, Delta, a highly contagious SARS-CoV-2 virus strain, is causing a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. How is Unity Health’s staff doing? Staffing is difficult for health systems across the nation. Unity Health is no dif- ferent. To meet these needs, we have had to think creatively. With the support of Senator Jonathan Dismang, Unity Health was approved to help add more staffed COVID beds in Arkansas. This request was presented to the Joint Budget Committee by the Arkansas Department of Health on our behalf and approved in early August. This is positive news as we look for ways to increase staffing levels, improve hospital throughput and care for more patients. We plan to add 48 registered nurses to cover an additional 34 medical COVID and nine COVID ICU beds. We also have requested five additional emergency department Drive-thru COVID testing at Unity Health