Arkansas Stimulus Success Stories

Communities in rural Arkansas face a common scenario, a lack of basic primary care services forces residents to drive long distances to see a physician. Community Health Centers make a valiant effort to bring rural Arkansas communities the health services they need, but often resources are stretched thin and the need is simply too great. “With stimulus funding from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA), Arkansas CHCs can add and retain providers, nurses, and support staff, giving them the opportunity to expand existing services as well as provide new services,” says Dr. Susan Ward-Jones, CEO, East Arkansas Family Health Center, Inc. For the small rural community of Bearden, AR this means that the residents of this small town now have full-time access to primary medical care. In Corning and Pocahontas, women now have local access to quality, affordable prenatal care and women’s health services.

Although CABUN Rural Health Services, Inc. has maintained a medical site in Bearden for some time, they have not had the personnel to keep the clinic open full-time. Residents would have to drive 25-30 miles on narrow rural roads to the nearest hospital to receive medical care. In May 2009, with funding from the ARRA Increased Demand for Services grant, CABUN hired an experienced Advanced Practice Nurse, Mr. Kelly Clark, to provide full-time services at the Bearden site. Mr. Clark joins the current part-time physician assistant to offer expanded hours and offers a variety of medical services that were not previously available locally including a variety of procedures and simple office surgeries.

Mr. Clark has quickly endeared himself to the community by participating in community events and letting people know that he is ready and available to provide for their health care needs. The expansion of the Bearden Health Center is already making a difference for residents in the small rural town of Bearden, Arkansas.

In northeast Arkansas, women living in the Corning and Pocahontas area have had limited access to prenatal and women’s health services due to a lack of OB/GYNs in their area. With ARRA Increased Demand for Services funding, Corning Area Healthcare, Inc. (CAHI) hired Dr. Dawn Brown, OB/GYN and Nurse Vicki Adamson, RN to provide these vital women’s health services locally. Dr. Brown began her practice on March 1, 2009 and has treated 113 new patients, including 65 who are uninsured. Women no longer drive 30-60 miles to be seen by an OB/GYN.

Patients see Dr. Brown within a week of making an appointment instead of sitting on waiting lists for out-of-town private physicians.

As the media and many Americans continue to scrutinize the various uses of the stimulus funding, it is important to highlight the positive impact this funding is making in our local communities in Arkansas. Access to local, affordable, quality primary and preventive health care services leads to healthy and productive citizens. Healthy and productive citizens lead to healthy and productive communities.