Hospital Happenings
Some of you probably recognize my name – for eight years, I wrote a local column about life, love and my many, many cats. I still get comments about the cats when I’m out and about. It’s heartwarming to know that y’all still care so much about those sweet babies. They are all doing purrfect, by the way!
I’m thrilled to resume writing with a monthly column focusing on my passion since leaving the news business in 2021. I started working as the marketing director for Eureka Springs Hospital in January 2022 and it has been an absolute joy the whole time. I love everyone on our team.
We are truly a family here, and we take care of one another. Coming to work feels like curling up inside a fuzzy blanket and turning on a comfort movie – Wes Craven’s New Nightmare for me, but your mileage may vary. At least once a day, I walk around the facility to catch up with everyone. We have the best conversations — I can tell how much we care about one other and everybody else who walks through our doors.
Recently, we have added new team members. We began our partnership with Emergency Staffing Solutions on Oct. 1, and ESS has done a great job running our emergency department. I am confident they will continue to provide excellent service to our emergency room patients.
ESS brought seven new doctors – Dr. Raymond P. Hartman, Dr. Carolyn E. Vogler, Dr. Jennifer Terry, Dr. Benjamin Carlyle, Dr. Travis Bowen, Dr. J. Coon and Dr. Michael D. Barnum – to the hospital, and retained Dr. Gary Parkhurst and Dr. Matthew Denefe. All doctors that work with ESS are trained to be in compliance with core measures, EMTALA and HIPAA guidelines. They take those guidelines as seriously as we do, and I’m so thankful for that.
I think it’s important for y’all to know that our partnership with ESS is just that – a true partnership between two organizations dedicated to excellent patient care. Our hospital is run by the Eureka Springs Hospital Commission and our management team, led by CEO Angie Shaw.
Everyone on the hospital commission understands our community and are deeply invested in providing the best rural healthcare we possibly can. Angie has worked at the hospital for more than 14 years. Two of her kids have graduated from the Eureka Springs School District, and she has three more in the district.
If I were to name one thing that truly makes our hospital unique, it’s the people who run it. They are locals who love Eureka Springs and its surrounding communities. They want our hospital to provide quality care because they know the people who need and use it.
Our hospital commission fully backed the decision to bring ESS on to run our emergency department. We make decisions together to make our hospital better, and ESS was the clear choice to run the ER. When I’ve called to check in on patients the past month, they have had overwhelmingly positive things to say about our new doctors. This partnership is working really, really well.
To be clear, ESS is only running the emergency room. Our hospital on the whole is run by locals and has been for years now. We don’t have any intention to change that. From my years working in this community as a journalist, I deeply understand how important it is to have local people making decisions for local people.
That’s why I am so thankful to work at Eureka Springs Hospital. We are truly the hospital with a heart, and that heart is going to keep beating for years to come.
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Samantha Jones is marketing director for Eureka Springs Hospital. You can reach her by calling 479-253-7400 ext. 4802 or emailing Samantha.Jones@EurekaSpringsHospital.com.
