Baptist Health Medical Center-Arkadelphia is a solid example of a small hospital with big ambitions. With just 25 beds, the facility nonetheless casts a wide net of expertise over the community and the immediate area.
“We’re proud of the support we have shown to the community through our staff and physician engagement,” said John Bowen, administrator of BHMC-Arkadelphia in a recent newspaper interview. “Last year was a record-setting year; we are very healthy and we’re growing. While other rural hospitals are contracting, we’re growing.”
Baptist Health Medical Center-Arkadelphia has been committed to serving the citizens of southwest Arkansas since 1981. The facility is defined as a critical access hospital, that is, a hospital that is limited to 25 acute beds and located within a certain distance of another hospital.
In an era when many such hospitals are struggling to keep their doors open, the Arkadelphia facility was busier than ever in 2014. Baptist Health Medical Center-Arkadelphia had 477 deliveries, performed 1,400 surgeries, had 11,000 emergency room visits and performed about 15,000 outpatient procedures last year.
Bowen said most critical access hospitals range between 400-700 admissions annually, BHMC-Arkadelphia had 1400 last year, its busiest in a decade.
The hospital’s success comes thanks to a variety of factors. For one, the Baptist Health system has invested heavily in the Arkadelphia campus, to the tune of $20 million in upgrades over the past two years. Bowen is quick to point out that these investments are the advantages BHMC-Arkadelphia enjoys, noting most struggling rural hospitals are independent and thus cannot afford to invest as heavily in staff, facilities or equipment
The hospital has also been successful in getting a buy-in from the majority of local physicians, the importance of which Bowen underscored in the interview.
“We really partner really well; there is really not a physician in this community who does not have some part to play in this hospital,” Bowen said. “They all support the hospital in one way or another.”
The hospital has also been aggressive in stretching its brand outside city limits.
BHMC-Arkadelphia continues to make an impact on surrounding communities by delivering high-quality medical care through conveniently-located therapy centers and family clinics, such as Baptist Health Family Clinic-Gurdon, Baptist Health Family Clinic-Bismarck, Baptist Health Family Clinic-Caddo Valley and Baptist Health Therapy Center-Arkadelphia. The system also has satellite clinics located in Hope, Prescott, Nashville and Malvern.
Highlights:
» Performed 477 deliveries, performed 1,400 surgeries, had 11,000 emergency room visits and performed about 15,000 outpatient procedures last year.
» BHMC-Arkadelphia had 1,400 admissions in 2014; hospitals in its class average 400-700
» Operates a series of Rural Health Clinics in surrounding area
» Offers telehealth services
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