Main Street Searcy presentation

Amy Burton recently presented a program update of Main Street Searcy. This program focuses on design, promotion, organization and economic restructuring. The benefits to downtown business owners include small business consultation, design consultation, interior design assistance and grant assistance. Mrs. Burton showed several before and after pictures of Main Street projects. Searcy is one of 17 Arkansas Main Street programs and one of only 1,400 accredited programs in the Nation.

LaDonna Johnston, WCMC Vice President, Patient Care Services

LaDonna Johnston, Vice-President for Patient Care Services at WCMC presented a new service offered by White County Medical Center Home Health. Telehealth is a program designed to be proactive by reducing hospitalization, hospital readmission, and ER visits. A monitor is placed at the patient's home and reminds them of regular scheduled activities. Patients identified as appropriate candidates for Telehealth are screened by the WCMC home care team with an emphasis currently on Congestive Heart Failure. For more information, contact WCMC Home Health at 501-279-2777.

Ray Montgomery, White County Medical Center President and CEO

The Lions Club has been hearing several speakers from White County Medical Center these past few weeks. Ray Montgomery, President and CEO, spoke to the Lion's about three challenges the hospital is facing. First, there is a shortage of specialized personnel ranging from nurses to physicians. Second, there is a growing population of patients who are not able to pay which translated in 2007 to over $5 Million in care provided to patients that the hospital did not receive payment for. Third, technology is ever changing. One example Mr. Montgomery shared was that when the hospital opened in 1967, the whole building and equipment cost $1.2 Million. In 2006, the hospital purchased a 64 slice CT that cost $1.5 Million by itself. Little Rock hospitals are able to obtain technology through philanthropic means not available to WCMC.

Teresa Ferricher, Emergency Department Director at White County Medical Center

Teresa Ferricher, Emergency Department Director at White County Medical Center, recently gave an update on the hospital's Emergency Department to the Searcy Lions Club. Since August 2007, the average length of stay in the Emergency Department has decreased by nearly an hour and the time from when a patient enters the ED door to when they are in a room has been nearly cut in half. Major changes took place this Summer and the current group of physicians, led by Dr. Edwin Sherwood, have embraced innovation and quality patient care. The new computerized PulseCheck system recently implemented rivals the Little Rock hospitals, and has put the Emergency Department on the road to become a 100% electronic medical chart department. The WCMC ED saw over 37,000 patients last year.