Name of Business:
St. Bernards Healthcare
President/CEO/Owner(s)/Manager:
Chris B. Barber, President and Chief Executive Officer
Phone Number:
870-207-4100
E-mail:
stbernards@sbrmc.org
Website:
www.stbernards.info/
Facebook:
St. Bernards Healthcare
Number of Years in Business:
115 years on July 5, 2015
What does your business provide to its customers?
For the last 115 years St. Bernards has been the trusted provider of comprehensive, compassionate healthcare services to those living in Northeast Arkansas and Southeast Missouri. Those healthcare services include a wide variety of things that fall under the four centers of excellence at St. Bernards Medical Center. St. Bernards has the region’s largest heartcare program and has more cardiologists, electrophysiologists and heart surgeons than any other facility. We were the first to develop a cancer treatment center – with that happening a quarter of a century ago. We have two radiation oncologists on staff along with three oncologists/hematologists, and we are the only cancer center in the region that has been accredited by the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. Many services are offered through the Ben E. Owens Cancer Center in Jonesboro, while some also are offered at the St. Bernards Infusion Center at Paragould Medical Park. Our women’s and children’s services range from delivery and care of babies – even those who are premature and sick at birth – to specialized imaging services in a wing dedicated to women’s needs at the St. Bernards Outpatient Imaging Center. Patients get the results of mammograms the same day the tests are performed. Through an extensive senior services program, St. Bernards has a Senior Health Clinic with three geriatricians on staff, cares for the frail elderly under one of this country’s first PACE (Program of All Inclusive Care) programs, offers a Medi-Pak Advantage program for seniors, has convenient and secure retirement living options and soon will have a Level II Assisted Living care facility that has a separate, dedicated memory care center. As a not-for-profit acute care hospital, St. Bernards cares for all who seek treatment, regardless of their ability to pay and operates under the formal mission of “Providing Christ-like healing to the community through education, treatment and services.”
What are some features that make your business unique?
St. Bernards is a designated Level III Trauma Center – the only one in this part of the state. It also has the only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (unit for premature and sick babies) in Eastern Arkansas. It was the first facility in the region to develop a cancer treatment center. It soon will open the new St. Bernards Villa, a Level II Assisted Living facility which houses a dedicated memory unit for those living with Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia. We have been serving as the trusted provider of comprehensive, compassionate care for patients in this quadrant of the state for more than 100 years.
Give us a brief history of your business:
St. Bernards Hospital was founded on July 5, 1900 by the sisters of Holy Angels Convent to help care for the sick during a malarial fever epidemic in Northeast Arkansas. It has grown exponentially over the years and now is the premier healthcare provider for those living in 23 counties in Northeast Arkansas and Southeast Missouri. Now known at St. Bernards Medical Center, it is a 438-bed acute care facility that serves as a referral center for the sickest patients in the region. It is a Level III Trauma Center – the only one in this part of the State – and houses the only Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the region. St. Bernards has the largest medical staff of any facility in this quadrant of the state and is the largest employer with approximately 2,400 employees at the medical center and at other St. Bernards affiliated entities. The medical center has four “centers of excellence” – heart care, cancer care, women’s and children’s services and senior services – and offers a true continuum of care for all within the region – from newborns to senior citizens. The newest of the facilities developed by St. Bernards – The Villa – is a Level II Assisted Care facility which also has a secure and dedicated memory unit for those living with Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia. It will be ready for occupancy this spring.
What do you see for the future of your business?
The future of St. Bernards will be shaped to a great extent by the unique healthcare needs of those in the communities we serve. We have in place comprehensive healthcare services that range from the St. Bernards Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) where premature and sick newborns receive care while their parents remain close to home to retirement living facilities such as St. Bernards Village and The Villa, with all of those – and many other services – developed because of needs in the communities we serve. We will continue to assess local needs and make plans to meet those needs, all the while serving as this region’s trusted provider of compassionate, comprehensive care.
