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Welcome to this edition of AMC.

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Tell you how I got better. I'm glad to be

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here, but a mission

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to. Well, I think that we're, we're talking, we're gonna

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talk about everybody's Arkansas is

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the 2nd highest prescriber.

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Welcome to AFMCTV. I'm Robin

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Ledbetter. Thank you for joining us today.

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I have with me Jennifer Thomas, and she's the

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community health manager at Mercy Fort Smith.

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Jennifer, thanks for being here.

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Absolutely, no problem.

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So we're talking about community health workers

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and tell us

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first, what are some of the biggest challenges

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currently facing Fort Smith

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community in regards to health?

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Um, so the biggest challenges right now

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I think we are working with are

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gonna be maternal health because

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Arkansas is top in the nation

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for maternal mortality.

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Um, and so that's something we're focusing on

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mental health, of course, is very much

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a top priority for

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us in Fort Smith, um,

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also. Poverty and our social determinants of

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health, so poverty, food insecurity,

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um, unable to afford medications

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is a big issue right now. So,

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um, those are our top things that we're,

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we're looking at trying to have programs to

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address, and that seems to

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be

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really trending across the state and not

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just Fort Smith.

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Absolutely.

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So how does Mercy Fort Smith approach

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building partnerships with local organizations

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and agencies?

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So I am a member of

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uh many health councils,

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uh coalitions um

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and so I try to spread the word about

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community health, what we do

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also we just finished up our community

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health needs assessment,

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so we will take that and start

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working on our um community health

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improvement plan which is our chip and

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so we are looking for our partners

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to be people who could help us address

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those top priorities which are mental

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health, maternal health, obesity.

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diabetes,

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um, so those top priorities

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are things that we want those

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organizations to help us address and help to create

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programs for and so that's what we look for

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when we are trying to partner with organizations.

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Are they going to be able to help address those

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needs?

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that schools, nonprofits,

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yes, so we have a school-based clinics,

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um, we have nonprofit organizations like

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100 Families, uh, Next Step

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Homeless Services, Hope Campus, um.

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There's just so many that help

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out with um our, you know, RCH&A

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our community health needs assessment, so

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many different types of organizations,

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absolutely.

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And what roles do your partners typically play

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in delivering health programs or services?

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Um, so we kind of think of it as a wrap-around

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as Mercy deals with the um

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medical care of our patients.

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We look for organizations that can help with,

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you know, food insecurity, can

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they help with um

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maybe uh homelessness or housing.

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Um, things like that. So

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we try to focus on the medical when

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we ask for other people, like, you know, the

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mental health like gateway or,

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you know, things like that that can help with the other,

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or, you know, with other

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health needs.

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What outcomes or improvements have you seen

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as a direct result of these collaborations?

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We have um seen the results from

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our uninsured

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residents or patients um having

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insurance now um they're able to

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access mental health services,

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um, the housing we're able

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to, you know, give them housing vouchers

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or food vouchers or assign, you know, assign

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them a PCP, so those are things that

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are um trending up

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because of those partnerships.

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And how do you measure the success of a community

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health partnership and it varies.

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Yes, it varies. So I

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always look at the amount of referrals

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we're getting,

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um, the amount of new organizations

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that are reaching out to me and saying I heard

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about you from 100 families

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or from

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um Gateway, um, and so that's

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how I know that the word's getting out we are

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helping those people and I feel like.

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We're constantly adding new

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organizations kind of to our our

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partnerships because they're constantly

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reaching out to me and asking like how can we

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how can we partner with you we have we have clients

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that need your help

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um how do we work that so I'm hoping

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we can grow our community health program and

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have more community health workers because there is definitely

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a need.

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And are there any you mentioned new, are there any

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new or upcoming initiatives that you're

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excited about involving community partners?

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Definitely will be the community health improvement

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plan. So like I said, we just finished up with the

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CHNA so now I'll be working

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on

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um finding programs that will address

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those top priorities that our community,

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we did a survey

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and our community said these are the things that we

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want to see addressed in our town

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in Fort Smith, um, and also in our

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rural areas and so I am very excited

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to work with our partners to

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um find programs that will address those

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needs.

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And how can other organizations,

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individuals get involved in supporting your community

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health efforts?

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I would say join the Fort

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Smith Health Council, join the opioid

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summit, join, uh, you know, join 100

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families. There are so many different

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organizations and alliance meetings

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and health councils that people can join, or

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they can just reach out to me and say, hey,

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how can we work with Mercy Community Health

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to, you know,

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address our clients and help our clients. So

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that's always an option too.

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And you've touched on this a little bit. Can you highlight

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any successful community health programs in the

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River Valley and share some of the measurable

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impacts they've had?

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Definitely. Well, I think the community health program

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that we have at Mercy is the, the

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one that I can speak of, of course, the

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most. Um, I did a little research

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and some data that I pulled and we

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were able to assist over 2000

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patients in 2024.

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Um, we, um, gave

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over. 1500 community

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resources out to our patients. We assigned

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311 PCPs

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to our patients

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and um we applied for Medicaid for

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over 800 patients. So that's

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the biggest one that I like to brag

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on is our community health workers. They're

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amazing.

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And what lessons have you and your team learned

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about working with diverse communities in the river

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valley? I mean, what are some things that

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you want our audience to know?

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Um, listen more, talk less

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would be my very first lesson that I've

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learned, um,

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just getting to know the person

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first. What is their culture? What is their

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background? What is their religious beliefs because that

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definitely affects how they.

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Um, deal with their health. Um,

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so I think that was the first thing for me was

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just really listening,

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whether they and letting them trust

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me first, getting their story,

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letting them trust me so that I can get to the root

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cause of why they're in the situation

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they're in and how can we best assist them.

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Um, also

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helping them to advocate for themselves

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and for their own health care because once we

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help them that first time, you know,

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we have to kind of go to our next patient. We have

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so many patients to help. So how

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can we set them up for success? How,

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you know, so that's a big. The thing for me is

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what, you know, asking those questions,

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how can I best help you so that the

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next appointment you can make yourself or we

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don't have, you know, what can we do to help you.

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So I think that's the thing, listening,

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getting to the root cause of it, how can

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we best support that person?

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And as we close, um, tell

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us what you want our audience to know

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about the programming, how did they get

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plugged in, where do they go? Is it a website?

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Is it social media?

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Um, just call, call Mercy.

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As for community health, they're gonna get me,

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and I'm gonna assign them a community health

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worker,

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um, and we are going to do a screening

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of them and ask them all the questions. How

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can we best support you and getting you healthy?

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Um, they would they. Coming to

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Mercy for the emergency room where they

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see their primary care physician, they can ask

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their primary care physician,

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you know, they should be asking those questions

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and those appointments if someone

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says I'm having a hard time paying an electric

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bill or I haven't been able to.

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You know, purchase my medication. That's why I'm

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back in the emergency room.

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I think we have a really good system where we

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are screening those patients and

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they are getting to us. But if, if you're

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just out on the outside and need to get in,

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all you have to do is call Mercy and ask for community health.

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And what is the message that you want

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the PCP, the healthcare provider, to

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know about the services that you all

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provide?

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Um, we're here to help and so

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if someone isn't able to pay

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their bills, if they are not

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buying their medications, if they do not have

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transportation

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to their appointments, and they're missing a lot of appointments,

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um, if they are underinsured,

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that is something we can look into. Why

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can we help them get more insurance? Is there

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another coverage we can get them?

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Um, so I think any time they run into

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a problem or they're hearing a problem

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that's affecting their patients care,

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they should be reaching out to us and saying how can

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we, how can we partner with community health

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to um address that?

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Well, Jennifer, thank you so much for talking

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about this important,

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the important work that you're doing in the

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community. I appreciate you being here today.

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Absolutely, thank you for having me.

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And that's it for this episode of AFMCTV.

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Have a great day and thanks for watching.
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