HJAR May/Jun 2026

48 MAY / JUN 2026  I  HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS Hospital Rounds Log a Load for Kids Commits $2.5M to Arkansas Children’s Log a Load for Kids of Arkansas has committed $2.5 million to support heart research at Arkansas Children’s, continuing a decades-long partnership aimed at improving outcomes for children with cardiovascular conditions. The funding is designated specifically for heart research, advancing innovation in diagnosis, treatment, and care for pediatric patients across the state and region. The gift follows the organization’s completion of a previous $2.5 million heart institute fundraising endowment in 2024. Additionally, they have endowed two heart-related chairs at Arkansas Children’s Hospital: the Log a Load for Kids of Arkansas Endowed Chair in Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery and the Log a Load for Kids of Arkansas Endowed Chair in Congenital Cardiac Disorders. Log a Load for Kids began in 1988 when loggers and others in the forest products community donated the value of a load of logs to their local Children’s Miracle Network hospital. Today, the program is a national leader in fundraising for Children’s Miracle Network, raising more than $6.5 million annually through golf tournaments, sporting clays events, fishing tournaments, auction dinners, and log donations. In Arkansas, Log a Load for Kids has supported Arkansas Children’s since 1993. The organization typically sets multiyear fundraising commitments designed to be fulfilled within five years. In their more than 30-year tenure, Log a Load for Kids of Arkansas has raised over $12 million for Arkan- sas Children’s. Arkansas Children’s Names Alison Ziari, MD, as Senior VP of Practice Plan, President of ACPSO Arkansas Children’s has appointed Alison Ziari, MD, MS, as senior vice president of the Arkansas Children’s Practice Plan and president of the Arkansas Children’s Professional Services Organization (ACPSO). Ziari will oversee the strategic management and operational transformation of hospital-based and outpatient medical practices. Her responsibilities include fiscal management, provider deployment, and the enhancement of quality metrics across the system. She will lead the ACPSO in centralizing professional revenue cycle functions — including billing, coding, and payer enrollment — to provide greater coordination and support for clinicians. Ziari joins Arkansas Children’s with more than 20 years of leadership experience. She most recently served as chief clinical and operations officer for Swedish Medical Group within the Providence Swedish Health System in the Pacific Northwest. In that role, she supported more than 1,300 clini- cians across 100 plus clinics, advancing system- wide innovations in care delivery and physician engagement. Six Baptist Health Hospitals Honored for Stroke Care Performance Baptist Health announced that six of its hospitals have been recognized by the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) for their commitment to high-quality stroke care. The awards are based on performance metrics from the Arkansas Stroke Registry between July 2024 and June 2025. The ADH awards are categorized into Diamond (95%+ adherence), Ruby (90–94.99%), and Pearl (85–89.99%) classes. The following Baptist Health hospitals were recognized: • Baptist Health Medical Center-Little Rock: Ruby for Stroke Band Documentation; • Baptist Health Medical Center-North Lit- tle Rock: Pearl for Coverdell Defect-Free Stroke Care Award and Ruby for Stroke Band Documentation; • Baptist Health-Fort Smith: Pearl for Stroke Band Documentation; • Baptist Health Medical Center-Stuttgart: Ruby for Door-to-CT Times; • Baptist Health Medical Center-Hot Spring County: Pearl for Coverdell Defect-Free Stroke Care Award, Door-to-CT Times, and Stroke Band Documentation; and • Baptist Health Medical Center-Drew County: Ruby for Door-to-CT Times. Key metrics evaluated include Door-to-CT times, which measure how quickly a patient receives a brain scan to determine treatment, and Defect- Free Care, which ensures patients receive every evidence-based treatment for which they are eligible. $1.5MDonation Supports Arkansas Children’s Hospital Expansion Katie and Miles Stephens are donating $1.5 million to support Arkansas Children’s $371 mil- lion expansion project. The Stephens family has been long-time supporters of Arkansas Children’s. Katie Stephens is a lifetime member of the Arkan- sas Children’s Hospital Auxiliary and has been a member of the Arkansas Children’s Foundation board since 2024. “We believe so deeply in what Arkansas Children’s is doing and the people leading this work,” Katie said. “This project will make a real difference for families and we are grateful for the opportunity to be a part of it. We hope our gift encourages others to join in supporting something so meaningful for our state.” Baptist Health Foundation Receives $125K in Grants from the National Breast Cancer Foundation Baptist Health Foundation was recently awarded $125,000 in grants from the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) for women’s health and oncology initiatives. This funding will provide life-saving care and preventative care for underserved patients in Arkansas. An extension of the 2025 partnership, the 2026 award brings the NBCF’s two-year funding total to $323,000. The funding awarded from the NBCF is for two different programs, the Patient Navigation Pro- gram and the National Mammography Program. • The Patient Navigation grant funds help Alison Ziari, MD