Infusion

Jacksonville welcomes Unity Health with open arms

By Mark Carter

Life flows once again through the building that had served as hospital for the city of Jacksonville for the better part of six decades.

Unity Health-Jacksonville opened its doors in March, giving residents important health care options that had been missing for several years. The city of 30,000, close to the heart of the metro as the crow flies but a hearty 12-mile commute from it as the freeway functions, had seen locals forced to make the trek down U.S. Highway 67/167 for most of their health care needs once Allegiance Health closed up shop three years ago.

Before Allegiance was North Metro Medical Center and before North Metro took over in 2008, there was the original — Rebsamen Memorial Hospital-turnedRegional Medical Center, opened in 1962.

Locals are thrilled to have a functioning hospital in town again.

“The community has embraced the hospital with open arms,” said Mayor Jeff Elmore. “It’s been huge for the city. It’s great having world-class health care here in town. For our residents not to have to leave town to seek health care is so important. They’ve been a great partner for the city and a great asset.”

And why wouldn’t residents embrace it? The absence of a hospital in Jacksonville left a significant health care void in Central Arkansas, one stretching from CHI St. Vincent North in Sherwood to Unity’s flagship White County Medical Center in Searcy. So, two years ago, city officials reached out to Unity about the possibility of expanding into Jacksonville.

Kevin Burton, administrator for Unity Health-Jacksonville, said the move was as much about meeting the needs of the community as anything.

“Honestly, [Jacksonville] was not on our radar until we were approached with the opportunity to help the community, and we saw it as a great chance to expand our mission to serve the health care needs of the Jacksonville community, locally,” he said.

Unity invested more than $36 million in renovating the old hospital and did so without incurring debt. The network, which grew from White County Medical Center and was renamed once it expanded beyond county lines, has prioritized establishing a strong and stable presence in the communities it serves.

“We have never been bought or sold. In 2015, we underwent a name change to reflect our expansion and growth,” Burton said. “For over 56 years, we have remained a financially healthy and stable local health care organization run by a board of directors who live and work in our communities. Unity Health has steadily grown and remained financially responsible while providing excellent first-class care for our communities.”

That’s just the kind of stability Jacksonville needed. For Paul Harvel, president of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, the reopened hospital gives the city another important tool for attracting economic development, one that had been missing.

“When you’re recruiting to a city, health, education and labor are at the top of the list,” he said. “It’s great that we have a hospital here where they can take care of you no matter what’s wrong, or they can refer you to someone who can. It’s a blessing that we have it.”

Unity’s Jacksonville hospital provides the community with a 13-bed emergency department; a 24-bed behavioral health unit; imaging services including MRI, CT, X-ray and 3D mammography; acute care services; complete lab services; an inpatient/observation unit; and inpatient cardiopulmonary services.

Unity Health is a member of the Mayo Clinic Care Network, and the move into Jacksonville gives it a healthy 44 points of service within its network of hospitals, clinics and specialty areas of practice throughout north-cen- tral Arkansas. The Unity network includes four hospitals — White County, Jacksonville, Unity Health-Newport and Advanced Care Hospital in Searcy. All told, Unity employs more than 2,300 Arkansans and offers more than 500 licensed beds and a medical staff of more than 160 physicians and specialists.

Though Unity undoubtedly is in growth mode, Burton said Jacksonville represented a “natural extension” of the Unity mission to improve the quality of care in communities served by the health system.

“This area is underserved in many ways, not the least of which is mental health treatment through inpatient and outpatient behavioral-health services. We brought a 24-bed inpatient adult-behavioral health unit to Jacksonville in order to provide a service the community told us is needed. Behavioral health is a specialty in which we are very experienced, and we were excited to bring our expertise to Jacksonville and the surrounding areas.”

Indeed, Jacksonville — with the adjacent Little Rock Air Force Base home to several thousand counting airmen and their families — was a perfect landing spot for Unity.

“It is very important for communities to have local medical care,” Burton said. “Not only do we serve patients for whom transportation is an issue, families often have trouble getting out of Jacksonville to visit them. This is significant because we know the inclusion of family in the care plan is an important part of healing. In addition, our proximity to so many talented primary care providers in Jacksonville allows our patients to come to us for outpatient testing — radiology, lab, etc. — on the same day they see their physicians.”

Burton said that logistical advantage makes it easier for patients to satisfy all their health care needs close to home. Plus, Unity’s opening in Jacksonville brings more than 150 good-paying jobs to town, providing a muchneeded boost to city coffers.

“One more important advantage, and one of which I am extremely proud, is that we are able to provide another outlet for health care services to the men and women at Little Rock Air Force Base,” Burton said. “We are proud to serve our military personnel and accept the TRICARE insurance.”

To say the facility needed some TLC is an understatement. Unity had challenges to meet in getting it ready for patients once again, not the least of which was COVID.

“We’ve worked through our challenges, and there were a few as we practically rebuilt the hospital during a global pandemic,” Burton said. “In our case, one of the biggest challenges was the disruption in supply chain that occurred during the pandemic while we were renovating the existing facility. Another major challenge was the renovation itself. So much of the infrastructure of the hospital had to be completely replaced, not just renovated. Of course, staffing is always a challenge when you open a new facility. There is a limited supply of talent available, so we must have a culture that attracts people to us. We’ve worked really hard to establish that.”

Burton said the Unity facilities team “worked wonders” and every square foot of the building was touched. Unity hasn’t revealed the cost of the renovation, but from replacing the plumbing to ripping out old framing and replacing it with modern infrastructure, it was a massive project.

“We knew that we were not willing to bring a product to Jacksonville that did not meet our standards,” Burton said. “The people of this community deserve the best we can give them, and this state-of-the-art facility is a great testament of our commitment to quality and this community.”

Unity officials have been humbled by the community’s response to their efforts.

“Our patient satisfaction scores are a great measure, but the relationships we are building with our patients tell a better story for me,” Burton said. “So many patients have stopped me to tell me about their fantastic experience. Also, their family members tell me about a nurse or tech or other worker who had an impact on them while they were here. The people of this community have welcomed us with open arms, and we are excited to be here serving them with compassion and expertise.”

In addition to the economic benefits, the resuscitation of the old hospital has infused the city with some psychological momentum.

“The facelift they’ve done to the exterior and the inside…you walk in and it’s hard to believe this used to be Rebsamen or North Metro,” Elmore said. “It’s an entirely new facility with an older shell.”

Unity may not be done in Jacksonville. Burton said future expansion at Unity Health-Jacksonville is possible.

“We are working to establish a presence with our Phase I offerings, but we have opportunities on the second floor to expand services in the future. There are four sizable operating suites on the second floor, as well as more medical beds. We are working through the planning stages for specific service lines to expand in the future.”