ARPQC Launches Website to Provide Information About Maternity Care Services, Initiatives

By David Wise

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Perinatal Quality Collaborative (ARPQC), a partnership launched last year between the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), the Arkansas Department of Health and 34 birthing hospitals across the state, launched its new website recently, creating a hub for patients and health care providers alike to access pivotal information related to maternal health care in Arkansas.

The site, arpqc.org, houses information about the collaborative, provides education to help patients make informed health care decisions and includes resources for health care providers.

The ARPCQ’s mission is to decrease maternal morbidity and mortality in Arkansas. Between 2018 and 2020, 38 women in Arkansas died from pregnancy-related causes. According to the state’s review panel of medical experts, more than 90% of these deaths were potentially preventable.

ARPQC Launches Website to Provide Information About Maternity Care Services, Initiatives

Hospital executives say financial conditions dire, closures imminent if no action

by Roby Brock (roby@talkbusiness.net)

After surviving the pandemic, Arkansas’ hospitals are anything but on a road to recovery. Mounting financial pressures from workforce to reimbursements to inflation are leading to reductions in services and access points and could lead to eventual closures of facilities if conditions don’t improve.

Two Arkansas hospital CEOs – Peggy Abbott, CEO of Ouachita County Medical Center, and Chad Aduddell, market CEO for CHI St. Vincent in Little Rock – said insurance companies and federal reimbursements must step up for the state’s healthcare community to survive.

“We’ve seen our expenses, we’re up more than 10%, which for us, our expenses are up over $100 million versus the pre-COVID year, and yet our revenues and volumes are actually down. So you don’t have to be, you know, a finance leader to know that that math’s not gonna work out, and not going to be sustainable,” said Aduddell.

https://talkbusiness.net/2022/08/hospital-executives-say-financial-conditions-dire-closures-imminent-if-no-action/

AHA says hospitals had $15.2 billion impact in 2020

by Steve Brawner (BRAWNERSTEVE@MAC.COM)

Arkansas hospitals had an estimated annual economic impact of more than $15.2 billion in 2020, and they directly provide 47,300 jobs with a total payroll of almost $3.7 billion, according to a report distributed by the Arkansas Hospital Association.

The report is based on statewide data on employment, payroll, purchasing and capital spending. The AHA is composed of 105 member hospitals.

The report said Arkansas hospitals spend more than $4.1 billion annually on goods and services such as medical supplies, electricity, and food for patients. Those expenditures generate almost $7.5 billion in economic activity. Hospitals spent more than $617 million on buildings and equipment in 2020, generating more than $1.1 billion in economic activity.

https://talkbusiness.net/2022/05/aha-says-hospitals-had-15-2-billion-impact-in-2020/

Arkansas Receives At-Home Testing Kits, Governor Hutchinson Requests Funds From ARPA

LITTLE ROCK – In December, Governor Hutchinson directed the Arkansas Department of Health to acquire 1.5 million rapid at-home tests to be available for free to Arkansans.

Arkansas has received the first shipment of 211,000 at-home testing kits and the process of delivering those to the respective distribution locations will begin shortly.

Governor Hutchinson said that the cost of these tests is around $10 million and will be covered by existing funds available in the COVID response budget. The tests will be available at public local libraries, public health units, and other locations. The National Guard will be assisting in the delivery of these at-home tests.

Expanding Hospital Beds

Governor Hutchinson requested $50 million be distributed to hospitals around the state to fund extra beds which will be used to help with the surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations. This request was approved by the Arkansas American Rescue Plan Act Steering Committee, and the disbursement of this funding requires legislative approval.

Governor Hutchinson created the Arkansas American Rescue Plan Act Steering Committee in 2020 to make recommendations on the distribution of approximately $1.57 billion in funding from the federal government.

The proposed plan includes adding 98 COVID ICU beds and 167 COVID medical beds to be funded for timelines of 28-45 days based on the recommendations from the Arkansas Department of Health. The hospitals which will receive those beds are:

• St. Bernards Medical Center

• Mercy - Rogers

• Conway Regional

• SVI - LR

• SVI - Hot Springs

• Washington Regional

• Unity Health - White County

• Baptist Health - Conway

• Baptist Health - Van Buren

• Mercy - Fort Smith

• Arkansas Children's

Aerial Photos of Construction on the New Sevier County Medical Center

Photos by Monte Bartek of Bartek Recon

Aerial Photos of Construction Site at the New Sevier County Medical Center

Photos are provided by Monte Bartek of Bartek Recon.

Three Arkansas Hospitals Garner A rating from Leapfrog

by Kim Souza (ksouza@talkbusiness.net)

National rating group Leapfrog has awarded Mercy Hospitals in Fort Smith and Rogers an A grade in patient safety for the spring 2021 report. CHI St. Vincent in Hot Springs also took the top grade.

The safety grades take into account the hospitals’ achievement protecting patients from errors, injuries, accidents and infections. The independent organization assigns letter grades from A to F to all U.S. general hospitals and it updates its ratings every six months.

https://talkbusiness.net/2021/04/three-arkansas-hospitals-garner-a-rating-from-leapfrog/

Efforts Underway To Help Arkansas Hospitals, Public Schools Amid Rising COVID Cases

With hospitalizations continuing to set new daily records, Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday discussed changes to the state’s trauma system to coordinate COVID-19 care, and efforts to expedite bringing teachers into the state’s beleaguered public schools.

The recent spikes in new known COVID-19 cases has put pressure on Arkansas hospitals. Between Nov. 2 and Nov. 30, total cases rose by 38.5%, deaths rose by 26%, known active cases were up 56%, hospitalizations rose by 54.5%, and ventilator use rose by 69%. Hospitalizations reached another daily record Tuesday of 1,074, up 11 from Monday, according to the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH). And of the 1,147 ICU beds statewide, only 72 were available, according to the ADH.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/post/efforts-underway-help-arkansas-hospitals-public-schools-amid-rising-covid-cases

Efforts Underway To Help Arkansas Hospitals, Public Schools Amid Rising COVID Cases

With hospitalizations continuing to set new daily records, Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Tuesday discussed changes to the state's trauma system to coordinate COVID-19 care, and efforts to expedite bringing teachers into the state's beleaguered public schools. The recent spikes in new known COVID-19 cases has put pressure on Arkansas hospitals.