McElfish joins St. Louis Fed’s healthcare industry council

Pearl Anna McElfish, director of the Office of Community Health and Research at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Springdale, has been named to the healthcare industry council of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.

According to a news release Monday (Feb. 28), the St. Louis Fed created four district industry councils in 2006, each designed to provide important feedback about economic conditions in key Eighth District industry sectors. The members’ observations — along with the economic data developed through the Federal Reserve Board’s Beige Book and meetings of the Reserve Bank’s board of directors — help ensure conditions in Main Street America are represented in monetary policy deliberations in Washington.

Each council is supported by one of the St. Louis Fed’s four offices: St. Louis (real estate), Little Rock (agribusiness) Louisville, Ky. (healthcare) and Memphis, Tenn. (transportation). The councils meet twice a year.