HJAR Mar/Apr 2022

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  MAR / APR 2022 65 For weekly eNews updates and to read the journal online, visit HealthcareJournalAR.com health services for Northwest Health. In addi- tion to overseeing all psychiatric care provided through the Northwest Health system of facilities, Hyatt directs care on the inpatient behavioral care unit at Northwest Medical Center-Springdale. After studying psychology at Louisiana State University, Hyatt earned a medical degree from University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Col- lege of Medicine where he also completed a res- idency. During residency, Hyatt was voted chief resident of psychiatry, was awarded the presti- gious Association for Academic Psychiatry fellow- ship, and received an award reserved for the top six psychiatric residents in the nation. He earned board certification from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. Rounds Named Chief Administrative Officer for UAMS Health Jason Rounds, MBA, FACHE, CHFP, joined UAMS Health as chief administrative officer and associate vice chancellor for clinical finance for UAMS Health. In this role, he will have responsibility for day-to- day financial operations of UAMS Health, includ- ing financial analysis, reporting, capital budgets, and management of productivity targets and effective staffing levels. The service line admin- istrators will report to him, and he also will over- see the clinical enterprise data analytics group. Rounds has more than 30 years’ experience in healthcare and joins UAMS from CHRISTUS Health in Texarkana, where he served as pres- ident of CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System from 2018 until early 2021. He previously served as chief operating officer and administrator from 2011 to 2018. He joined CHRISTUS Health in 2007 in Shreveport, Louisiana, where he served as a regional vice president and administrator. He has a degree in healthcare sciences from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galves- ton and a Master of Business Administration from Centenary College in Shreveport. Arkansas Surgical Hospital Names Chief Nursing Officer Arkansas Surgical Hospital has named Sarah Lof- tin as its new chief nursing officer and Emily Cobb as its new director of patient care services. In her new role, Loftin will provide clinical and administrative leadership for planning, organizing, directing, monitoring, and evaluating safe, high- quality patient care. Loftin joined Arkansas Surgical Hospital in 2014 as a staff nurse in the Pre-Operative Department, becoming its clinical coordinator in 2016. Loftin was promoted to director of quality services and risk management in 2017 and continued in that role until recently accepting the CNO position. Loftin, a certified medical surgical nurse, received a nursing degree from Baptist Health Schools. She was a 2018 recipient of the Arkan- sas Center for Nursing’s Top 40 Nurse Leaders Under 40. As director of patient care services, Cobb will manage, coordinate, and evaluate nursing ser- vices within several departments, including Pain Management, the Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU), the Patient Care Unit, and the Emergency Department. Cobb has served in a variety of roles in her eight years at Arkansas Surgical Hospital. Most recently, she led the Interventional Pain Department and the PACU and was instrumental in the growth of each. Before joining Arkansas Surgical Hospital, Cobb attended nursing school at UAMS and worked in its Intensive Care Unit. She started in Arkansas Surgical Hospital’s PACU and became coordina- tor in 2016. Northwest Health Expands Access to Behavioral Health Services Northwest Arkansas residents now have more access to mental health services with the opening of Northwest Health’s expanded behavioral health unit. Northwest Medical Center – Springdale (NMC-S) recently completed a $4.5 million dol- lar expansion of the unit, adding 28 adult behav- ioral health beds for acute care, totaling 77 beds. NMC-S is the only acute care hospital offering adult behavioral health inpatient services in North- west Arkansas. “With the expansion of the behavioral health unit, we aim to provide individuals and families in the region with greater access to behavioral health services in a compassionate environment that is close to home,” said Jose Echavarria, interim CEO, NMC-S. The unit at NMC-S will provide patients with a combination of medical assessment, psychiatric evaluation, and group therapy, as well as educa- tion and support to both the patients themselves and the families who care for them. Treatment available for adults can address a wide range of acute psychiatric illnesses, including bipolar dis- order, severe anxiety, and psychosis. n Jason Rounds, MBA, FACHE, CHFP Emily Cobb Sarah Loftin