Arkansas Hospitals: Location, Classification, Beds, Special Units & Control

PNP = Private Not-for-Profit Organization -- RRC = Rural Referral Center -- SCH = Sole Community Hospital
NOTE: Medicare's Swing Bed Program requires that hospitals set up and staff fewer than 100 beds.

Arkansas Hospital Outreach Activities

Although Arkansas' hospitals don't spend much time boasting about their community outreach efforts, they're extending the "hospital without walls" concept further from their own campuses each week. At a recent meeting of the Arkansas Association of Hospital Trustees (AAHT), consultant Susan Berk of Encino, Calif., asked trustees and CEOs from the participating hospitals to describe ways they are partnering with local community organizations to improve access to healthcare services and have a positive impact on health status. A sampling of the responses showed that Arkansas hospitals are involved in a variety of projects such as:

-- partnering with the local transit authority to deliver patients to the hospital and local clinics and return them to their homes;

-- equipping a mobile health van to travel to local schools and businesses for wellness checks, immunizations, education, etc.;

-- working with local school athletic trainers to ensure delivery of proper medical treatment;

-- instituting a diabetes planning program that evolved from a small group meeting to a large city-wide event that meets in the civic auditorium;

-- providing a hospital summer camp to teach school children about healthcare, accident prevention, and infection control practices;

-- working through churches to provide preventive care for those individuals who fear or refuse to come to a hospital;

-- raising funds through the hospital's foundation for a childhood immunization program;

-- partnering with the local community mental health center to provide a haven for abused women and children;

-- sponsoring, along with the junior auxiliary, a "safety town" for children ages 5-7;

-- and, utilizing the hospital's physical therapy department to provide free physicals to school athletes.

Arkansas Digital Channel Allotments

A few months ago, wireless heart monitors at a Dallas-area hospital failed immediately after WFAA-TV in Dallas began testing high definition television (HDTV) broadcasts. The hospital was using wireless monitors that operate on the same channel that was assigned by the FCC to WFAA-TV for digital television operations, but had been previously unused. WFAA immediately shut off its HDTV signal until a new monitoring system is installed at the hospital, and no patients were hurt.

According to published reports, this problem has been identified only in the Dallas market. However, difficulties may arise in other markets, including Arkansas, as stations begin to make the transition to digital television signals. The inception of digital television will increase use of the TV spectrum during the digital transition, making it harder to find vacant channels that can be used by low-power, unlicensed devices such as wireless heart monitors without interference.

Digital television channels have already been assigned by the FCC and many more TV stations will be activating digital signals on their new channels in the coming months and years--all of them by 2003. To prevent an occurrence in Arkansas similar to the Dallas incident, KTHV Channel 11 in Little Rock, in conjunction with the National Association of Broadcasters, has made available to the Arkansas Hospital Association (AHA) the new FCC digital channel allotment table for all Arkansas television stations. This table provides specific channel information, including both the current analog channel numbers and the newly assigned digital channels. The AHA has forwarded a copy of this information to each hospital in the state for use in planning necessary changes. Arkansas stations have until May 2002 to comply with the new signal frequency ranges, although some stations will move to digital transmission earlier. Questions regarding this issue should be directed to Allison Fletcher at KTHV at (501) 224-4590.

Informed parents are the best defense

Teen alcohol use is epidemic! According to Arkansans for Drug Free Youth, alcohol use by young people remains extremely high. About half of junior and senior high school students have used alcohol. More than one-third report drinking alcohol weekly. Some are binge drinkers who report consuming 15 or more alcoholic drinks per week. These young drinkers are at high risk of becoming addicted to alcohol and other drugs.

Most teenagers drink due to peer pressure. The age at which peer pressure applies is younger than ever. The 1997 Arkansas Youth Risk Behavior Survey reports that:

• 79% of Arkansas high school students have had at least one drink of alcohol
• 37% had their first drink before the age of 13

The Washington Post reported:

• 25% of young people who drink said they do so to get high
• 31% reported drinking alone
• 41% said they drink when they're upset because it made them feel better

Those who use alcohol alone or drink to counter bad feelings run a high risk of becoming alcoholics. The earlier an individual begins drinking, in any amount, the more likely he or she is to become an alcoholic.

Parents are key players in this epidemic. Some parents say they are relieved that their children use alcohol instead of other drugs. This is a dangerous and harmful misconception. Changing passive attitudes and providing parents with the facts about alcohol and drugs are the first steps in drug prevention. Concerned parents must play a major role in educating children about drinking and drugs. It must be realized that the fight against drugs begins at home with clear rules, healthy values, and a good example.