UAMS, Mena Regional Health System enter co-management agreement
The Mena City Council and Mena Hospital Commissioners approved Tuesday (July 14) the signing of a co-management agreement between Mena Regional Health System and UAMS, pending final approval by the Arkansas Department of Health.
Under the agreement, Mena Regional Health System will retain its assets, operations, and oversight of the hospital. No immediate changes to patient services, hospital staff, or daily operations will result from the agreement.
This agreement will bring increased access to UAMS’s world-class specialists, academic programs, and clinical research in addition to assisting the hospital in identifying opportunities to improve daily operations. The arrangement follows UAMS’ recent agreements with health systems in Helena and Bryant.
UAMS and Mena Regional have collaborated for years on several key clinical and educational projects aimed at expanding specialized care and improving health in the Mena area.
The Mena Regional Health System serves as an official UAMS Milk Bank Depot, allowing screened donors to drop off breast milk that is then pasteurized by UAMS for use by premature and ill infants. UAMS provides Mena Regional providers with remote access to specialized expertise through telemedicine. UAMS Regional Campuses host Mini-MASH (Medical Applications of Science for Health) camps for local high school students at Mena Regional.
UAMS and Mena Regional also work closely with the University of Arkansas at Rich Mountain (UARM) to expand local healthcare career pathways, enhance rural clinical training, and improve community health services. UARM nursing and allied health students complete their hands-on clinical training at Mena Regional.
“At UAMS, we are committed to collaborating with community hospitals to ensure Arkansans have access to high-quality care close to home,” said UAMS Chancellor C. Lowry Barnes, M.D. “This co-management agreement with Mena Regional Health System strengthens our shared commitment to improving health outcomes in western Arkansas while enhancing access to the expertise, education and resources that UAMS can provide. We look forward to building on Mena Regional’s long history of serving its community and working together to meet the healthcare needs of the region.”
“This co-management agreement with UAMS reflects our commitment to ensuring that the people of Polk County and surrounding rural communities have access to high-quality health care close to home,” said Paul Ervin, chief executive officer of Mena Regional Health System. “Our mission is ‘Patients First Always,’ and this agreement will strengthen our ability to deliver on that promise by connecting our patients with the expertise, resources, and specialty care available through UAMS while continuing to provide the personalized care they expect from their local hospital.”
Mena Regional Health System is a municipal-owned Critical Access Hospital serving Polk County and the surrounding region. It has served the region since 1936.
“I’m excited to see UAMS and Mena Regional take this important step together. Strong affiliations with community hospitals are one of the best ways we can expand access to care and bring more services closer to home for Arkansans,” Barnes said in an email to employees. “Our recent announcements of UAMS expansion to Bryant and Helena combined with this exciting partnership in Mena reflect our commitment to becoming a true statewide health system to enable us to better serve our mission. We look forward to sharing more exciting partnerships in the coming weeks and months.”