Page 9 - Explore Lonoke County 2020

EXPLORE LONOKE COUNTY • ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT TO THE THREE RIVERS EDITION OF THE ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2020 9SS
that, with a nasal swab, can deliver results in less than 20 minutes with follow-up via polymerise chain reaction testing sent to an outside lab for processing.
Nicole Torres, chief nursing officer, said the process of setting up the testing protocol had its challenges.
“ e biggest logistical difficulties in provid- ing testing have been accessing testing sup- plies and being able to provide timely results for PCR testing,” she said. “With a very high demand for PCR testing, there has been a na- tionwide shortage of supplies, such as testing reagents. is causes many of the commercial labs, like the one we use, to have extensive turnaround times for results. Some of our pa- tients have had to wait 10 or 12 days for PCR results after testing.
“ is is one of the reasons we decided to start offering the rapid antigen test. While it is very accurate, it does not detect as well in early infection, so that is a drawback. However, the antigen test gives results very quickly, and when you are testing someone who is an es- sential worker or you suspect is positive, rapid results are imperative.”
Torres also said that while working in health care in the age of the coronavirus is intensely stressful, it’s also reaffirmed for her the commu- nity’s support of the hospital as a whole.
“To me, the most positive result that has come out of the COVID-19 pandemic is the outpouring of care and compassion I have seen in our local community,” she said. “From donations to kind words to the empathy and understanding I have seen demonstrated on a daily basis, our community is just an awesome place to live and work.”
Mason, a Stuttgart native who is a veter- an of Little Rock’s emergency departments throughout his 34-year medical career, said he, like the other partners, relished the chance to design the Cabot Emergency Hos- pital as their ideal ER facility, from equip- ment to systems.
“ is is a dream come true for us,” he said. “Normally, we’re more like employees for hos- pitals or private contractors. We serve at the whims of the higher-ups. We’ve all found our- selves sometimes with pressure put on us to maybe not do what we think is best for the patient because of that. But here, since it’s all physician-owned, we get to direct 100 per- cent of the decisions that influence the fate of our patients.”
is patient-centered focus extends to all members of the team, including people such as Tristan Toler, a charge nurse. Like most registered nurses in Arkansas, Toler has been in high demand during her eight-year career and said she had no shortage of ca- reer opportunities in Searcy, her hometown. Yet she’s made the commute every day to
The emergency department is a catch-all place. We’ve always been the open door for everything that is out there because we’re
open 24 hours.”
— DR. CHARLES MASON,
MEDICAL DIRECTOR AND OWNERSHIP PARTNER, CABOT EMERGENCY HOSPITAL
CEH since it opened because of its team ap- proach to providing care.
“It’s a different type of patient care,” she said. “It’s more about taking care of the patient, not just shuffling people through. It’s paying attention to the patients, taking more time with them, making them feel like they’re at home.
“We get to know each other closely, so if [a physician is] busy, and we know what he wants to do on the patient, we can gather what he’s going to need and get things started before he ever gets in and sees them. It expedites patient care, and patients feel like they’re being taken care of quickly instead of having to wait.”
Even for as new as it is, Cabot Emergency Hospital’s success has the partners weighing future expansion, both to the Cabot location and in other communities in Arkansas. But whether or not the facility expands on the extra ground surrounding the building, Mason said, the hospital’s impact on Cabot, current and future, is already substantial, given how well the hospital fits into its own health care niche, complementing other local providers.
“Cabot has many highly trained physicians, and it has everything that a community needs on a clinic basis,” Mason said. “But most fam- ily practitioners, when it comes to something that we consider severe, such as respiratory distress, cardiac arrest, chest pain, trauma, stroke — they are probably not equipped to take care of those high-acute medical prob- lems. We are.
“We’re not trying to take business from the family doctors. Our goal is to help people. I like helping people. You don’t get into emergency medicine to make money. A large portion of our clientele don’t pay us a dime. ey show up, they have a problem, and they’re going to get treated. I think most ER doctors are that way. For those people who really need help, we want to help them.”