Editor’s Letter

A Shift in Perspective

It has been my privilege to serve as editor-in-chief of Arkansas Hospitals for the past seven years. Together, we have examined critical policy issues, discussed leadership and culture, and shared the occasional family memory while telling the story of Arkansas hospitals.

Whether you’re a clinician, administrator, or any of the myriad other team members who keep our hospitals running smoothly, you have been on my mind each and every day of my 14 years with the Arkansas Hospital Association. With each editor’s letter, I hope I have communicated the great respect I have for each of you.

My tenure has seen some changes to this magazine – adding a theme for each issue, offering original articles from state and national authors, and reimagining the design of the publication from the cover to the back page. In the last two years, the magazine has benefitted tremendously from the creative vision of the AHA’s Director of Communications, Ashley Warren.

I am so pleased that Ashley has agreed to step into the role of Arkansas Hospitals’ Editor-in-Chief. You already know Ashley from her work managing ArkPrepare communications throughout the pandemic. She is also the force behind our new website, the voice of AHA’s social media presence, and the producer of countless other compelling and inviting communication tools that serve AHA members and the patients and communities they serve.

In Ashley’s capable hands, I know the improvements will continue, and I can’t wait to see what the future brings.

As always, thank you for all you do,

Elisa M. White

Editor in Chief

The COVID-19 pandemic is building a mosaic of lived experiences. Schoolteachers turned I.T. experts, service-industry workers struggling to survive, hospitalized patients fighting for every breath: Each piece of the mosaic has its own color, texture, and shape. It’s only when all the pieces are seen as a whole that we feel its full impact. Only by hearing stories from a variety of perspectives can we begin to know what is happening, what it means, and how it is shaping the future.

This issue of Arkansas Hospitals offers various points of view: American Hospital Association President and CEO Rick Pollack considers what lessons U.S. hospitals have learned – and are still learning; Erin Bolton, Director of Quality Improvement at Jefferson Regional, shares a frontline perspective starting with the moment one of her hospital’s patients was identified as the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the state; and two authors show us the present through the lens of the past, as they juxtapose the current pandemic with the deadly influenza of 1918.

The Arkansas Hospitals team is grateful to the contributors who shared stories of their own pandemic experiences throughout the past year. We pledge to continue to enrich our community by bringing a variety of diverse health care perspectives to every edition.

We are grateful for the leadership of Elisa White, our outgoing Editor in Chief, whose wide range of interests and deep respect for the work of hospitals shone through in every page. I come to the role of Editor full of curiosity, humility, and with a sense of responsibility to her legacy.

I look forward to the stories we will tell together.

Ashley Warren Incoming Editor in Chief