HJAR May/Jun 2023

38 MAY / JUN 2023  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS   Healthcare Briefs UAMS Receives More than $1M fromUSDA, AT&T to Expand Digital Health Education, Training in Arkansas Delta The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) recently received grants totaling more than $1 million from the U.S. Department of Agri- culture and AT&T that will widen the scope of existing digital health programs, including field trips for Delta-area students, K-12 summer intern- ships, and training sessions for first responders. The USDA grant is $1 million for two years and includes support for hands-on interactive digital health training for health professionals and the general public, virtual reality (VR) digital health training for first responders, and paid summer internships for K-12 students, as well as teachers, faculty, and nursing students. The AT&T grant is $15,000 and funds Delta area school field trips and a shadowing opportunity for underserved students at digital health resource centers in Lake Village, Pine Bluff, and Helena-West Helena. The Arkansas Rural Health Partnership (ARHP) and Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff are working with UAMS in the training effort called Arkansas Technology Training and Rural Assistance Center for Telehealth (ATTRACT). The effort will use training centers at the ARHP offices in Lake Village, the UAMS East Regional Campus in Helena-West Helena, and Jefferson Regional Medical Center School of Nursing in Pine Bluff. During the two-year period, ATTRACT intends to assist 160 local businesses, provide trainings for 800 Arkansans, create up to 18 jobs, and save seven jobs through grant funding support. Digital health education and trainings are useful to help patients and providers learn more about available technology that can make healthcare more accessible, especially in rural areas of the state. The principal investigator for both grants is Melony Stokes, DNP, RN, MSN, senior direc- tor of programs for the UAMS Institute for Digi- tal Health & Innovation. “The Delta remains underserved in terms of healthcare access,” Stokes said. “My overall goal is to educate as many community members, patients, providers, and students on the advan- tages of digital health and how it can be utilized in health care.” Interested Delta-area schools will receive a stipend of up to $1,078 to compensate for field trip costs, including transportation, meals, and other costs to ensure trips are free for students who wish to participate. The grant also gives stu- dents access to shadow a health professional to learn more about careers in healthcare and tech- nology. Paid internships for high school students, college students, as well as instructors are possi- ble under the USDA grant, Stokes said. The trainings, which can accommodate hun- dreds of attendees each year, provide varying lev- els of information on digital health. Topics include the benefits of digital health as well as potential career opportunities as medical or technology professionals. Students also have the opportunity for hands-on demonstrations with digital health devices such as blood pressure monitors, EKGs, stethoscopes, and otoscopes. The VR trainings are specific to first responders, including firefighters, police, emergency medi- cal technicians, wildlife officers, and the National Guard. The sessions expand on trainings offered by the UAMS Centers on Aging, a program of the UAMS Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, about Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, offering law enforcement and first responders to conduct search-and-rescue operations for those living with dementia. CHI St. Vincent Opens New Heart Clinic in De Queen CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute announced the creation of a new clinic that began serving patients in and around De Queen, Arkansas on April 11. Cardiologists Yuba Acharya, MD, and Srinivas Vengala, MD, will be seeing patients on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at Heart Clinic Arkansas - De Queen, located in the new Sevier County Medical Center at 960 U.S. Highway 71. “Access to healthcare, or the lack thereof, can significantly influence both the quantity and qual- ity of someone’s life,” said CHI St. Vincent Heart Institute President Marcia Atkinson. “We know that access to quality heart care is limited in rural parts of Southwest Arkansas. That’s why this step to ensure patients in De Queen and its surround- ing communities have convenient access to our leading cardiologists is so important.” Arkansas Urology Names APP Clinical Directors for South Arkansas, Men’s Health Operations Arkansas Urology has promoted two of its advanced practice providers to clinical director positions, providing clinical leadership in South Arkansas and Men’s Health operations. Jeff Thomas, certified physician assistant (PA- C), is now the APP clinical director of men’s health for Arkansas Urology, providing leadership sup- port in practice areas related to medical urolog- ical issues specific to men. He joined Arkansas Urology in 2011, and his prior experience includes emergency medicine and critical care. Allen Childers, certified physician assistant (PA- C), is now APP clinical director of South Arkansas, providing operational support in El Dorado, Mon- ticello, and White Hall. Childers joined Arkansas Urology in 2017. He holds bachelor degrees in biology from Southern Arkansas University and cardio-pulmonary science from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Prior to becom- ing a PA, Childers served as registered respiratory therapist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. “At Arkansas Urology, we are excited about the positive impact our newly promoted APP clini- cal directors will have on our patients and the community,” said E. Scot Davis, CEO of Arkan- sas Urology. “Their exceptional experience and expertise will undoubtedly elevate the standard of urological care in South Arkansas and Men’s Health, allowing us to provide even better care to those we serve. As a practice, we are deeply com- mitted to the health and wellbeing of the com- munities we serve, and these promotions further Jeff Thomas, PA-C