LINCOLN -- Arkansas Children's Hospital opened a clinic in Lowell eight years ago and that facility has grown from 2,000 visits the first year to 23,000 visits in 2014.
Kim Dutton, ACH senior development officer with the hospital's Foundation, recently addressed Lincoln Area Kiwanis Club about the Lowell clinic and services provided by ACH statewide and to northwest Arkansas.
The goal of the Lowell clinic, Dutton said, is to save those 23,000 families a trip to Little Rock.
"This saves families headaches, heartaches and the expense of driving to Little Rock," Dutton said.
The decision to open a Lowell clinic was a "huge experiment" but it has gone so well, she said, that Arkansas Children's Hospital opened an identical clinic in Jonesboro with plans to open a satellite clinic in south Arkansas.
Describing the growth as "booming," Dutton said the pediatric population in northwest Arkansas is growing two to three times faster than anywhere else in the state. She said one reason for this is the growth of the Latino population in this part of the state.
The Lowell clinic, 519 Latham Drive, has a 4,000-square-foot general pediatric clinic that serves families who do not have a primary care physician. Many of these patients are on Medicaid or are uninsured, Dutton said. The general practice is located on the first floor of the facility.
Upstairs, the clinic houses specialists, physicians who fly from Little Rock to practice all day in Lowell. Some specialists come up every other week or once a month, depending on the demand. Monthly pediatric clinics include cardiology, gastroenterology, neurosurgery, urology and orthopedics. In all, 21 specialists practice out of Lowell each month.
Some of the other services provided in Lowell are speech, x-ray, audiology, nutrition, social work and renal ultrasound.
Dutton said her goal is that someday the Lowell clinic will provide all services available in Little Rock and patients will not have to go Little Rock to see their doctors or get treated.
Arkansas Children's Hospital is the only Level 1 trauma center in the state. It opened 100 years ago as an orphanage. It has 80 specialists and is known worldwide for its specialists who perform heart transplants. Dutton said the hospital performs 33 heart transplants a year, the most in the country, and children come from all over the world for heart transplants.
The hospital campus spans 31 city blocks and in 2014 saw 366,000 patients.
"They come from all over," Dutton said. "We've hit every state in the nation and some countries."
The hospital recently changed its mission statement to reflect its efforts to help children stay healthier in the future.
The mission statement now says: "Championing children to make them healthier today and better tomorrow."
Dutton said hospital staff have a goal to intervene and keep kids healthier as they grow into adulthood.
"We want to be more impactful on the front end instead of just taking care of kids on the back end."
Other programs provided by the hospital include a dental sealant program for children who cannot afford to see a dentist and a baby safety program.
General News on 07/22/2015