BRMC, ASUMH cooperating on health education center

An Area Health Education Center will open in Mountain Home early next month in conjunction with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Arkansas State University Mountain Home and Baxter Regional Medical Center.

It will be located both in Mountain Home and Batesville and will be the eighth AHEC. In Batesville, the AHEC is a venture with UAMS, the University of Arkansas Community College and White River Medical Center. The centers will host rotating UAMS students studying medicines, pharmacy, nursing, radiology technology, diet, and ultrasound technology, Dr. Robert Kerr, BRMC president and chief executive officer said.
Mountain Home students could have classroom facilities both at BRMC and ASUMH.

Kerr said the AHEC will be a great asset to the Mountain Home area.

"This is something we have worked for at the hospital and college for years," he said. "It is a collaboration between hospital and college and will be located mainly at the hospital and some at the college."

The hospital and university will work with UAMS in Little Rock, he added.

Kerr credited state Sen. Shawn Womack for his hard work in getting the AHEC in Mountain Home.

ASUMH Chancellor Dr. Ed Coulter said at least $1 million would be spent in each community on the program.

He also lauded Womack for his efforts in securing the funding this last legislative session.

"It is exciting, but a lot of decisions have to be made," Coulter said.

The board is exploring new programs, Coulter added. Decisions on what types of programs and where they would be located have not been made.

One possibility is a dental hygiene program.

"We are not sure we can do it, but there is a definite need for it and the community wants it," Coulter said. "That is one example of many that we will look at. Our local dentists are actively involved in evaluating that question."

Most of the programs will be guided by BRMC letting ASUMH know what the needs are and deciding where the programs will be housed — whether at the hospital or the university. The director of the program could be at the hospital. Anything placed at the ASUMH campus will be housed in the new Health Sciences building.

"It is a very big improvement in our education here," Kerr said. "We have done a good job of educating our health professionals, but this will be an improvement. It will also get us recognized more with students from Little Rock and UAMS when they decide where to go practice. We think this is a very positive thing with collaboration of the hospitals and colleges."

Locally, ASUMH and BRMC have been working closely for several months, Kerr said.

"The university has been here for a couple of meetings," he said. "We are forming committees to help set this up between here and Batesville. We hope to kick off shortly after July 1 and go pretty well."

"It will give us a good array of students from UAMS in Little Rock," he said. "It will actually be recognized as part of UAMS then."

Previously, the closest AHECs were in Fayetteville and Jonesboro.

The north central area was not covered as well as other areas of the state, Kerr added. The new AHEC will change that.

Womack said he first realized the need for an AHEC in the area as a freshman house member in 1999 when he visited AHECs in Fayetteville and Texarkana.

"I was determined it would be good for our area which was underserved."

Womack said the program will help provide more options for residents wanting education in medical fields.

"Folks have to go out of the area to be trained, but this will allow local students to be trained here or at Batesville," Womack said. "It could also give the area exposure to potential doctors and pharmacists down the road. It also creates a situation for medical continuing education programs so people do not have to travel."

The program eventually will bring more than $2 million in state funds to the area each year, which will benefit the local economy, he added.

AHEC North Central will be the first AHEC located within two community colleges, according to UAMS.

"Like all of our AHECs, the goal for AHEC North Central is to help increase the number of health-care providers and improve the quality of health care, especially in small and rural communities," said Charles O. Cranford, D.D.S., vice chancellor for regional programs and executive director of the AHEC program. "This AHEC center will extend UAMS programs into a part of the state that has been underserved."

Batesville, about 75 miles southeast of Mountain Home, will serve as AHEC North Central's primary administrative office, but the two locations will offer equal programs. The AHEC will serve 10 counties: Baxter, Fulton, Sharp, Independence, Stone, Cleburne, Van Buren, Searcy, Marion and Izard. Those counties fall between AHEC Northwest in Fayetteville and AHEC Northeast in Jonesboro.

"UAMS has had the privilege of operating an AHEC system that is nationally recognized for effectively delivering health care and health-care education to areas of the state that need it most," said UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D. "We're excited about establishing our newest AHEC and developing new partnerships in north-central Arkansas."

Making up the local AHEC advisory board will be Kerr, BRMC Chief Operating Officer Rob Marshall and BRMC volunteer Carolyn Hannon; board members from ASUMH will be Coulter, Vice Chancellor of Academic and Student Affairs Dr. Pat Bailey and Associate Vice Chancellor for Research, Special Projects and Distance Learning Karen Hopper. An additional six officials from Batesville also will serve on the board, which will be headed up by Kerr.
source:www.baxterbulletin.com