Founded in 1925 and located at 1808 West Main in Russellville, Saint Mary’s Regional Health System serves the River Valley community with a 170 bed full-service hospital offering a range of medical services and quality care with 77 active physicians and 43 consulting physicians. Other facets of Saint Mary’s Regional Health System include the Millard Henry Clinic system with five locations around the region, the Outpatient Therapy Center, a state of the art cardiology center, the Wellness Fitness Center, and a staff of over 900 employees.
Director Jim Davidson says the services at Saint Mary’s boil down to the basics. Their mission, he explains, is to “bring health to life through people caring for people.” Such a mission is about something so much more than advanced technology or state of the art equipment, both of which Saint Mary’s boasts. “We believe in the holy trinity of health care,” says Davidson. Saint Mary’s seeks to heal the mind, heal the body, and heal the spirit.
Community outreach and support is a crucial part of this mission. Davidson notes their myriad of community partnerships including a close relationship with the Junior Auxiliary, a commitment to area students, substantial donations to area schools, and innovative programing to increase patient care and community growth.
Working in partnership with Friendship Community Care, Project SEARCH High School Transition Program is a one-year, school-to-work program providing people with disabilities tuition-free job training along with educational and developmental opportunities. Now in its second year, this innovative workplace immersion brings together career skills and boasts hands-on training.
Saint Mary’s works closely with the ATU nursing program, offering both intern and extern programs and hiring multiple ATU nursing graduates each year. Davidson speaks highly of the successful summer extern program that offers rising senior nursing students employment and on the site job training via rotation through multiple clinical settings including IMCU, rehab science, family birth center, critical care, neuroscience and more.
For Davidson, the success of Saint Mary’s is dependent on their commitment to the community, both patients and staff. “We owe it to our team members to bring our values to life,” he says. Those values are focused on teamwork, effective communication, measurable safety, measurable quality, continuous improvement, active compassion, mutual respect, and integrity. Each Tuesday the hospital offers new employee orientation, ensuring that the focus of care is not simply on technological advancements but rather on “the fundamental human transaction of people caring for people,” says Davidson.
Recently the hospital was recognized for its cardiology program, winning an award from the AR SAVES program (AR SAVES stands for Arkansas Stroke Assistance through Virtual Emergency Support), for “most improved” in the care of stroke patients.
Davidson speaks to the ripple effects the hospital has throughout the community. “We sustain over 850 jobs; we pay $5.3 million in salaries and benefits a year; and we provide 16 million dollars in uncompensated care in the river valley,” he says. Saint Mary’s also gives over $100,000 each year to local organizations including Arkansas Tech University, Arkansas Valley Soccer, ATU Endowment & Trust, the Boys and Girls Club, area Chambers of Commerce, Main Street Russellville, Russellville Chamber, Russellville High School, Russvegas 1/2 Marathon, and United Way of Pope County.
You can learn more about services online at www.saintmarysregional.com.
Saint Mary's Regional Health System
