HJLR Mar/Apr 2019

dialogue 14 MAR / APR 2019 I  Healthcare Journal of little rock   we are responsible for improving the quality of health care for those individuals, as well as managing the cost of care. Another affili- ation we have in place is with AR Care and federally qualified health centers around the state. We have supported them over the years through grants. We are also very proud of our involvement with the Little Rock School District and other partners in the Good2Go programwhich helps students at four area high schools have a nutritious start to every school day. Editor What areas of care does Baptist Health do exceptionally well? Wells We do a lot of things exceptionally well, but there are some things that are unique to Baptist Health that aren’t offered anywhere else. The heart transplant pro- gram is probably the one that stands out the most. We are the only adult heart trans- plant center inArkansas. Last year, we had a young patient from northeast Arkansas, and we implanted the state’s first total artificial heart. Ayear later, we were able to transplant a live donor heart into that individual, and he is doing well. This is something that only takes place at Baptist Health in Little Rock. Our rehabilitation program is unique. We have the state’s largest freestanding reha- bilitation hospital on the Little Rock cam- pus. We see patients from all over the state with significant brain injuries, spinal-cord injuries, stroke, and many other health issues. It is an exceptional program and facility that produces amazing outcomes. We have tremendous programs in women’s and children’s services, cardiology, neuro- surgery, and at our stroke center of excel- lence. We provide a lot of exceptional care, but those are pretty strong programs on our Little Rock campus. We provide trauma and emergency care extremely well. Doing a lot of these things so well is attributable to committed and talented physicians who practice at Baptist Health, and it speaks to the quality of other clinical caregivers, such as nurses and technicians, who have been with Baptist Health for a very long time. Stability in our clinicians and our leader- ship enables us to do a lot of things really well, and I think that stability gives you the long view. You don’t chase the fancy object of the moment, but instead stay commit- ted to the things you know are important in terms of improving quality and trying to be exceptional. The other thing that frequently gets overlooked is our Baptist Health Col- lege. It is a hospital-based nursing college, including several other clinical programs, that trains hundreds of nurses for the state of Arkansas every year. Editor Are there areas of care, or special- ties, that Baptist Health may improve to keep pace with the competition? Wells We are always working to improve every day to serve people in the communi- ties we are in. I don’t think there is a par- ticular program that needs to dramatically change to keep up with our competitors, but we are always after improvement at Bap- tist Health. Editor How important is the “Baptist” or religious component of Baptist Health? Wells This is probably the most important aspect of our health system. It is core to our mission. It is who we are. I like to say that it answers the question of why we do what we do. It is something that is real at Baptist Health. It is a foundational part of who we are. We were formed by the Baptist church in Arkansas, and while we are no longer affiliated with the Baptist church, our roots are in Christian ministry, and that is what defines us. We are more than a business; we are a healing ministry. And not only do we have a chaplaincy program, but we train and educate chaplains through the Clinical Pas- toral Education program. Editor Can you talk a little about quality and how Baptist Health uses technology to measure quality and outcomes? Wells Whether the advent of electronic medical records is viewed as good or bad, one thing it has done is provide us with much more clinical data and information “ Stability in our clinicians and our leadership enables us to do a lot of things really well, and I think that stability gives you the long view. You don’t chase the fancy object of the moment, but instead stay committed to the things you know are important in terms of improving quality and trying to be exceptional. ”