Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Children's Hospital All About Helping

Helping is what the Arkansas Children's Hospital is all about.

Members of the Gurdon Rotary Club learned some of what the ACH does Thursday, Jan. 7, from Andrew Jackson, from the ACH.

Nationally, Jackson said, there are about 100 children's hospitals, with about 60 of these being strictly for children only. Of these 60, 20 are in the top echelon for what they do, and the Arkansas Children's Hospital is among the leaders of these 20, ranking sixth or seventh.

"It's a world class facility," Jackson said.

While the ACH doesn't have a maternity ward, it does treat children from birth to age 21, and sometimes more, depending on the situation.

The hospital's burn center is also among the best in the world, and takes people of all ages.

Some 2,700 people work at the hospital full and part time, as it operates 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week, working to ensure the health of those inside.

"It takes more people per patient for children than adults," Jackson informed the Rotarians. This, he said, is because the entire family is being treated, not just the child.

He showed a video of some of the things done at Children's, including a newborn getting a heart transplant, and another child getting plastic surgery to help repair a severe facial deformity.

The neonatal intensive care unit at Children's has about 50 beds, Jackson said, with all 50 staying full. Most of these children, he said, were born prematurely, while others were referred to Children's by other doctors.

Usually, when a child is referred by another physician, they are flown to Children's by one of the hospital's two helicopters. However, Jackson pointed out, Children's does not sent its helicopters to accident scenes, but, instead, goes to other hospitals to pick patients up and transport them back to Little Rock.

Children's, he said, has about 90 out-patient clinics across the state. In Clark County, during the fiscal year 1998, some 760 children went through an ACH clinic.

More and more people, Jackson said, are making use of the emergency room at Children's. And, he said, the hospital turns no child away because of a parent's ability to pay. Children's is funded through the Arkansas Children's Hospital Foundation, which works to raise money for the facility.

The money raised by the foundation is then used to upgrade the equipment and staff.

In other Rotary business, the club is still working the coat drive. Those with old coats in good condition can take them to First State Bank to donate them so some of Gurdon's children won't be cold this winter.

The needs of a child will be assessed by the Gurdon Public School District.

Coats will be accepted through Thursday, Jan. 14. The Salvation Army will help if other donors fail to meet the area's needs.

The club's service project for the year will be to help Operation Cleanup, spearheaded by Delton Simpson.

Operation Cleanup is a project Simpson has been working on to help Gurdon's children find positive ways to spend their time and keep them off the street.

The idea of the Rotary Club project is to raise money and purchase good quality basketball goals for Operation Cleanup, which uses the old Gurdon Middle School gymnasium.

On Jan. 23, a hamburger cookout will be held at the Gurdon City Hall, with tickets costing $3 each. The luncheon will run form 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased from any member of the Rotary Club, at the door or from any member of Operation Cleanup.