SPRINGDALE (KFSM) -- Some of the youngest patients where you live have been seeking treatment at our area's newest hospital for almost six months. Arkansas Children`s Northwest has been seeing more than 2,000 patients a month since the hospital first opened in February.
President and CEO Marcy Doderer said keeping families in Northwest Arkansas, instead of them driving all the way to Little Rock, was the driving force of the new hospital.
“We`ve seen families who have had that history, who have regularly been in Little Rock for care, outpatient and inpatient, and now they are seeking their care here. And every one of those families their faces light up when they say oh my gosh for the first time we`ve registered at ACNW and we weren`t in Little Rock,” Doderer said.
Sarah Sparks-Diebold and her son Barrett are one of those families.
When Barrett, who is now 14, was a toddler he had a rare esophageal disorder. During that time Barrett's family would drive to Little Rock weekly for nine months.
“Because of Barrett`s condition he would get sick regularly and so sometimes our trip would take six hours down and six hours back for maybe a 30 minute or an hour appointment,” she said.
Earlier this summer Barrett was a patient at Arkansas Children`s Northwest`s Emergency Department.
He was playing in a finals match of a tennis tournament when he jumped up to hit a ball rolling his ankle when he landed.
“I immediately saw swelling, discoloring and we decided to go to ACHNW to seek treatment and care for my ankle and we were in and out in 45 minutes,” he said.
Arkansas Children`s Northwest is still looking to recruit more doctors, so they can provide even more services for patients in our community.
The hospital is also looking to partner with UAMS and Northwest Arkansas Community College to become a training site, to ensure our state has what it needs when it comes to caregivers for the future.