Mena Regional Health Systems to acquire new beds

Submitted by Jessica Smith

Mena Regional Support Foundation recently made a very generous donation to Mena regional Health Systems (MRHS) to aide in the purchase of 38 new Stryker beds for patient rooms.

These beds will provide much needed updates for patient rooms using innovative technology and design that focuses on both patient and caregiver comfort and safety.

MRHS is so thankful that we have a dedicated and forward-thinking Foundation that volunteers their time and effort to raising funds to support these projects.

If you are interested in assisting the Foundation or would like to make a contribution to this or any other Mena Regional Support Foundation Project please contact Sue Cavner at suec@menaregional. com or 479-243-2344.

By Richie Lawry

A light drizzle began to fall as I pulled out of my driveway into the inky blackness of the early morning. The headlights of my S-10 pickup struggled to pierce through the veil of darkness. It was 4:30 a.m., and once again, I was driving to De Queen to pick up a load of windshields. For the last week, my early morning trips to pick up glass had been an almost daily occurrence.

As I headed south out of Mena, the light drizzle turned into heavy rain. Soon the rain was falling in sheets instead of drops. So much rain fell that the highway began to flood. The visibility was abysmal as wave after wave of rain seemed to crash to earth. The windshield wipers slapped at the rain in a vain attempt to keep the windshield clear, but it was a losing battle. The rain was relentless as I drove on into the night. Water rushed through the ditches like a mighty river, flowing over driveways as the culverts were overwhelmed with more water than they could channel away. My head hurt from the tension of peering into the darkness and trying to see the road. My hands gripped the steering wheel so tight that I had to remind myself to relax. But then I would hit another patch of water on the road, and the stress would return.

The sky is tar-black and vengeful, with large clouds moving toward me. Suddenly, out of the blackness, came streaks of bold light, illuminating the highway. The wind whipped up into a frenzy, shrieking and rocking my little pickup. While the rain fell in great sheets, lightning flashed around me, followed by loud cracking booms.

As I drove, white-knuckled, into the storm, I thought about how miserable it would be to load the windshields onto my truck in the pouring rain. I wasn’t looking forward to getting drenched to the bone. But as I neared De Queen, the thunder and lightning stopped. The rain changed from a deluge to a more moderate rain as it let up enough so that my windshield wipers no longer had to be on high, furiously trying to keep the windshield clear. I was thankful for the reprieve.

By the time I reached my storage unit