NWA healthcare continues evolution despite challenges

The rapid population growth of Northwest Arkansas has created challenges for the region’s healthcare providers as they have struggled to keep up. Expansion efforts from Washington Regional, Mercy, Northwest Health, Highlands Oncology, University of Arkansas Medical Sciences (UAMS), Arkansas Children’s and Walmart Health continue despite hiring challenges in the post-pandemic world.

Larry Shackelford, CEO of Washington Regional Medical System in Fayetteville, said a big part of his job is recruiting doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals to the region. He said the pandemic took a toll on many hospital healthcare professionals who have since left the business. At the same time, our region’s population continues to grow, adding about 13,000 new residents annually.

Dr. Soujanya Pulluru, vice president of clinical operations and virtual health services at Walmart, said that 40,000 physicians left their practices in 2020, and many areas still need more doctors delivering primary care.

Aside from recruitment challenges and 30% higher labor costs, Shackelford said drug and supply prices are up 50% to 60% since the COVID-19 pandemic. Price increases are pushing up the cost of health care with relatively flat reimbursement levels from insurance companies, and that is being felt across the U.S.

“I think the pandemic revealed that we have a broken healthcare system in this country, and it’s not sustainable,” Shackelford said.

He said the work going on regionally between hospitals, the Northwest Arkansas Council and other stakeholders is moving the needle in the right direction, but it will take time.

Council CEO Nelson Peacock said that while primary care access across the region has expanded in recent years, more specialists are needed. In 2020, the council hired Ryan Cork to head up a new healthcare division to address the challenges.

“Through Ryan’s leadership, providers across the region added graduate residency slots to attract more medical students to the region,” Peacock said. “Washington Regional Medical Center and UAMS Northwest developed a plan to establish up to 92 new graduate medical education positions at Washington Regional, and state leaders have provided funding to execute that plan. Several residencies started this year, and more funding is coming to reach that goal.”

Shackelford said the first class of eight internal medicine residents started in June. They had ties to Arkansas and were high-quality applicants. The program will grow to 16 next year and 24 the following year. Also, in 2024, the Fayetteville hospital will begin a new specialty residency program in emergency medicine — a four-year program starting with six residents.

He said the region is taking small steps in the right direction to improve health care and wellness for the growing population. According to Peacock and Shackelford, the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM) in Bentonville will be critical in bringing more talented physicians to the region.

In addition to improving and increasing the capacity for medical education, Cork is advocating for increased academic research through educational institutions, regional hospitals, and the Whole Health Institute, which is now under construction in Bentonville. Innovation stemming from the research will serve as a regional magnet for patients, providers, faculty, researchers and health technology companies, Peacock said.

He said that the Whole Health Institute, AWSOM and expanding medical residency slots are significant steps forward in making Northwest Arkansas a healthcare destination.

“The impact of these new organizations will be significant,” Peacock said.

The council continues to study the impact of these efforts since 2020 and plans a five-year update.