Medical Center of South Arkansas doing its part to enhance regional health care in south Arkansas
MCSA has partnered with Arkansas Children’s to expand access to pediatric care.
Nothing helps define a community’s quality of life quite like health care. After all, it keeps the “life” in quality of life. Hospitals and access to health care play a key role in how that quality of life is defined, and El Dorado’s Medical Center of South Arkansas is no exception.
MCSA is taking this commitment to their community seriously, which has been made very apparent in the last couple years.
“The hospital’s emphasis on re-establishing both itself as a source of local pride and El Dorado as a regional medical hub is critical to the city’s quality-of-life offerings” says Bill Luther, president and CEO of the Union County Chamber of Commerce. “Not only does a strong hospital improve quality of life for a community, it also helps attract and maintain industrial growth, acts as a magnet for other healthcare related businesses and serves as a potential ladder of economic development for residents.”
MCSA is one of Union County’s largest employers with approximately 700 team members and over 160 healthcare providers on staff.
When Chief Executive Officer Scott Street joined Medical Center of South Arkansas in September 2017, he brought with him a vision for the health care community. He calls the vision “Destination Healthcare.” Destination Healthcare can be summarized as a series of strategic initiatives that have been put in place with the goal of increasing access and quality of care in south Arkansas. The initiative was launched with the mission to return El Dorado to its historical roots as a medical hub for the region.
Through this initiative, alliances have been established with some of the state’s most prominent health care providers in order to reintroduce important services and help build upon the hospital’s current programs.
“Twenty to 30 years ago, there were a lot more health care services and specialties being provided here,” says Street. “If we can bring back strategic service lines, it could prevent local residents from having to drive over two hours for care, and they could stay here for the same quality care.”
Strategic alliances have been launched with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Arkansas Heart Hospital, Arkansas Children’s, Arkansas Urology, Landmark Cancer Center and Survival Flight. Through them, Street believes MCSA can help improve the quality of life for residents by ensuring them quick access to quality health care. “We like to joke that El Dorado is ‘the center of the universe’ because we are two hours from everywhere,” Street says. “Although being centrally located has its benefits, it also makes for a lot of traveling. These alliances have not only been instrumental in the success of our hospital, but they have also improved patient access and care for the residents of south Arkansas and our community.”
Alliances established at MCSA include:
• The Destination Healthcare initiative identified cardiology as an immediate need. “We had to strengthen our cardiology program. The success of our cardiology program is essential to the hospital and our community. Because of our rural location, physician recruitment has been a challenge,” Street says. In 2019, Arkansas Heart Hospital and MCSA jointly recruited interventional cardiologist Dr. Athanasios Stoyioglou to help expand treatment, programs and services related to heart health. As part of the alliance, Dr. Stoy, as he is called, sees patients at the Arkansas Heart Hospital El Dorado Clinic and performs cardiac procedures and testing at MCSA. “A strategic alliance with Arkansas Heart Hospital has allowed potential cardiology recruits to have the best of both worlds, living in a small-town atmosphere but having the resources and back up from a much larger heart focused organization,” Street says. The two organizations also work together to share best practices and provide training for the MCSA cardiac services team. This alliance has proven to be essential for improving heart health and care for residents of south Arkansas.
• Landmark Cancer Center will be breaking ground on a 50,000-square foot comprehensive cancer center that will also house additional specialties. This alliance will bring comprehensive cancer care close to home for south Arkansas residents, something that has been missing from the community for years. The cancer institute will be a full-service facility including medical oncology and radiation therapy. While construction is being completed a mobile Tomotherapy unit is on MCSA’s campus to provide modern radiation services in a self-contained unit. The unit opening in January uses treatment techniques such as Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT), Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) and Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) to treat a wide spectrum of cancerous disease sites from brain, breast and prostate to whole body bone marrow. Providing cancer treatments in a caring and supportive environment is the forefront of this alliance.
• Arkansas Urology’s alliance will enable local residents to receive urological care including surgery close to home. Urologist Dr. Caleb Bozeman with Arkansas Urology now treats patients from the practice’s El Dorado clinic at MCSA. This alliance keeps patients from having to travel two or more hours for simple surgical procedures.
• Arkansas Children’s provides improved coordination of care between neonatologists, nursing and other clinical staff at the Little Rock hospital’s NICU and MCSA to help further improve the quality care for mothers and their newborns through measured outcomes. Working with ACH, MCSA recently became the first hospital in the state to implement the Family Connects of Union County program. Through Family Connects, every Union County baby born at MCSA will receive two newborn home visits to ensure the baby’s and mother’s postpartum development and wellbeing.
• Medical Center of South Arkansas and emergency medical air transportation company Survival Flight have formed an alliance to bring enhanced emergency air transport services to the south Arkansas region. Beginning in February, this alliance will equip MCSA with an onsite helicopter and crew based on the hospital’s campus and will be transporting patients to and from MCSA, a designated Level III Trauma Center, ARSaves telemedicine center and interventional cardiovascular center. Medical Center of South Arkansas will also be utilizing Survival Flight to transfer patients in need of higher levels of care to other hospitals. The new service also provides opportunities to increase access to timely medical care for rural and previously underserved areas.
A community assessment conducted in 2019 by local health care providers, law enforcement officials, state officials and other community stakeholders determined a large gap in behavioral and mental health services available in south Arkansas.
“Mental health is a crisis on a national scale, but it’s also happening right here close to home as well,” Street says. “Providing behavioral health services to our area has become a focus and priority project for our organization.”
As a component to behavioral health, MCSA has opened a medical withdrawal management program which allows clients who are in withdrawal from alcohol and/ or drugs to be medically stabilized and managed on an inpatient medical surgical unit, just like any other patient recovering from surgery or illness, preserving dignity and confidentiality. Psychiatrist Dr. Althea Conley recently joined the hospital’s staff as medical director of the program.
MCSA is currently undergoing a multi-year renovation and remodel. Built in 1964, the 166-bed acute-care facility is getting a much needed face lift. Street says the hospital spent about $8 million in 2018 and 2019 renovating the front lobby, café, conference center and two patient floors. He expects renovation to continue in increments over the next five years. Because small cities and towns can be judged on the outward appearance of their hospitals, such an investment is necessary for the hospital’s commitment to our community, Street says.
“After renovations and aesthetic improvements, we have seen a huge improvement of the perception of the hospital from employees, physicians, the community and patients.”
