Since March, Arkansas Children’s Hospital has added a second and third hospital to its nursery alliance and plans to add more medical centers to help keep newborns who need care closer to their homes.
Conway Regional Medical Center was the first hospital to join the alliance, in November 2016. Since then, about 25 percent of the newborns who would have gone to ACH for treatment have been able to remain at Conway Regional, said Dr. Alan Lucas, medical director of the nursery alliance at Conway Regional.
“The pediatricians in Conway feel more comfortable keeping some of those babies because they know that we have the backup … with the nursery alliance,” Lucas said.
He said the pediatricians in Conway can consult with ACH’s experts when they have questions about newborn care. The consultations usually take place over the phone and can occur several times a week, Lucas said.
As a result of the alliance, Conway Regional has almost doubled the length of stay for the babies born between 32 and 35 weeks’ gestation, he said.
“It’s been a great thing for Conway as well as for the pediatricians here,” Lucas said.
In March, Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff became the second hospital to join the alliance, followed by CHI St. Vincent-Hot Springs this month.
Dr. Rob Steele, ACH’s senior vice president and chief strategy officer, said he expects to have two more hospitals in the alliance by July, but would not name them.
Declining to give a range, he said the cost to the hospital of being part of the alliance is based on a number of factors.
Steele said the alliance is part of ACH’s massive five-year strategic plan, which was announced in 2015 and whose goals include having a statewide network of care to improve children’s health.
Steele said that coordinating the care through the alliance could have an impact on Arkansas’ infant mortality rate, which is one of the highest in the country at 8 deaths per 1,000 babies born.
The national rate is 5.9 deaths per 1,000 births.
“If we can get an alliance with enough hospitals, we can all learn together on the best way to coordinate that care with those babies and make a meaningful impact on infant mortality,” he said.
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