HJAR Jan/Feb 2024

48 JAN / FEB 2024  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS Hospital Rounds Arkansas Children’s Establishes $70MCenter Focused on Opioids’ Impact on Children Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin is award- ing $50 million of opioid settlement funds to Arkansas Children’s to pioneer one of the nation’s most ambitious research efforts dedicated to opi- oids’ impact on children. The National Center for Opioid Research & Clin- ical Effectiveness (NCOR) will position Arkansas as a national leader in understanding the impacts of the opioid crisis on the fetus, newborn, and devel- oping children. It will also accelerate development of effective evidence-based treatments that rad- ically improve child health and inform state and national policy efforts. Research published this year in the journal Pediatrics shows opioids are the leading cause of poisoning deaths in children under age five across the nation. The Office of the Attorney General is respon- sible for administering the state’s share of the national opioid settlements to fund opioid reme- diation in compliance with the terms of the settle- ment agreements. Arkansas Children’s will develop a revolution- ary facility with cutting-edge infrastructure, equip- ment, and technology to support the clinical, social work, and outreach teams who are tackling the crisis directly. The state’s nationally ranked pediatric health system will build the center around brain imag- ing technology, better equipping experts in fetal and neonatal neuroimaging to study how opi- oids impact children’s developing brains. The enhanced imaging capability will help scientists better understand what parts of the brain are at play so they can design innovative prevention methods and therapies. The center will host collaborative space to lead multicenter clinical trials, offer trailblazing tele- health capabilities, and build an advanced ana- lytics and informatics infrastructure focused on sta- tistical analysis and machine learning. Arkansas Children’s will also leverage toxicology capabili- ties to refine techniques to quickly detect opioids, including newer synthetic opioids that now escape detection of many testing platforms. “The opioid crisis has devastated Arkansas fam- ilies, and we see the impact in our NICU, clinics and ER every day,” said Marcy Doderer, FACHE, Arkansas Children’s president and CEO. “By cre- ating this center, we are accelerating a healthier future for the children of Arkansas.” In 2019, research published by the Journal of Pediatrics found that three-fourths of cases of chil- dren being exposed to opioids were accidental and nearly all involved swallowing the drugs after unintentional contact. Meanwhile, intentional opioid use continues to rise among Arkansas youth. Pregnant women and their newborns are deeply impacted. Babies exposed to opioids before birth are more likely to experience abnormal neurodevelopment, have learning impairments, and face behavioral health challenges. These children are also much more likely to struggle with substance misuse as they grow up. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studies show Arkansas has the second-highest dispensing rate for opioids in the nation. Another threat children face is neonatal absti- nence syndrome, a series of withdrawal symptoms babies struggle with after their mothers use drugs during pregnancy. Babies with these symptoms are more likely to have birth defects and expe- rience a host of complications. Nationally, these withdrawal symptom rates continue to climb, and Arkansas Department of Health research found a 433 percent increase in the condition over a 10-year period. Arkansas Children’s estimates the project will require $70 million in funding, and the health sys- tem will provide the funds beyond the opioid set- tlement proceeds. Plans call for construction to begin in 2024 on the 45,000-square-foot facility, which will be in the research corridor of the health system’s Little Rock campus. Scientists will work closely with the Arkansas Children’s Research Insti- tute and Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center, one of six National Human Nutrition Centers funded through the USDA-ARS. The health system will also draw on an exist- ing network of partnerships and collaborations to move what is learned at the center directly into the community to decrease opioid use and mis- use. This will include an electronic game-based adolescent prescription drug prevention program delivered through schools, community outreach programs, and other venues. Arkansas Children’s is already recognized as a national leader in developing and implement- ing the Eat Sleep Console (ESC) Care Approach to treat neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome (NOWS) and the Following Baby Back Home (FBBH) Initiative to improve long-term childhood outcomes. The center will build on the strong partnerships already in place through Arkan- sas Children’s statewide nursery alliance, which brings birthing hospitals across the state together to learn evidence-based practices from each other and share methods that improve babies’ outcomes. Baptist Health Acquires Drew Memorial Health System Baptist Health has officially added Drew Memo- rial Health System in Monticello to the Baptist Health system. Baptist Health recognized the momentous occasion during a ribbon cutting cer- emony with hospital officials and local dignitaries at the hospital on Dec. 4. Operations include a 60-bed hospital, two clin- ics, and home health. The Monticello hospital, which becomes Baptist Health's 12th hospital, unveiled a new sign during the ceremony show- ing the updated name: “Baptist Health Medical Center-Drew County.” The hospital, clinics, and home health have approximately 300 employees in Drew County. The health system offers numerous services such as a cancer and infusion center, emergency department, wound center, rehab therapy, respi- ratory therapy, women's services, a sleep center, radiology, and laboratory, among others. Baptist Health initially announced in October that it would begin managing the health system's general operations until the official acquisition in December. Baptist Health added Drew Memorial Health System by subleasing its assets and assum- ing its operations. Race for a Healthier Tomorrow Raises More Than $45K for Arkansas Children’s Hospital The Arkansas Children's Hospital Auxiliary held its fifth annual Race for a Healthier Tomorrow on Oct. 7 and raised more than $45,000 to sup- port expert pediatric care at Arkansas Children's Hospital.