With new acquisitions come new identities, and two local medical centers have combined under a new name to provide unified health opportunities in White and Jackson counties.
Unity Health’s logo, according to the organization’s website, is “an artistic representation of a medical cross. The components of the new logo represent the campuses and clinics uniting to form one medical network and represent the strength of the Unity Health organization as a whole. The four links also symbolize the areas of health and wellness Unity Health strives to help heal: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual.”
Until Feb. 5, the entities that make up Unity Health were known as White County Medical Center in Searcy and Harris Hospital in Newport. White County Medical Center announced in December its plan to purchase Harris Hospital and its 12 affiliated clinics, and with that acquisition, WCMC officials decided it was time for a rebranding.
Ray Montgomery, president and CEO of Unity Health, said White County Medical Center decided to purchase Harris Hospital partially because of recent changes experienced throughout the medical world, especially concerning the anticipation and implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
“What motivated us is the changes,” he said. “The pressures we’re all facing because of reimbursement cuts and the need to — the challenges of — really improving our quality and reducing our costs, creating a value to our communities. Both camps have been looking at how we accomplish that and how we work through that process.”
After four to six months of discussion among members of the White County Medical Center Board, the decision was made to pursue networks, affiliations and alliances that would better position the medical center for the future.
Dr. Clark Fincher, a staff physician at Searcy Medical Center, has been with the organization for his entire 34-year career. He said he has seen the growth in Searcy, especially through the medical community, and he is excited to see that growth extend beyond Searcy’s borders with Unity Health.
“Health care is changing,” he said. “In order to position our organization to continue to provide the latest and best care possible, White County Medical Center and Harris Hospital in Newport have joined forces. Each hospital has a long tradition of providing health care for its community. We want to support the continuation of local health care and enhance the services available at each facility for the future.”
The Harris Hospital purchase was finalized on Feb. 1, and the transition has started to bring that campus into the Unity Health fold. Dr. Mark White, Unity Health diagnostic radiologist and chief of staff, said on Feb. 5 that he has already seen how the Searcy and Newport locations will enhance care for patients in the region.
“We feel like this alignment will allow us to build upon existing services between the two facilities,” he said. “I think everybody’s very excited about the possibility of how we can enhance things both [in Searcy] and in Newport — services, technology and the like.”
Unity Health-White County Medical Center in Searcy is the largest employer in a six-county area with more than 1,750 associates. The facility has a total of 438 licensed beds and a medical staff of 150 physicians. Unity Health-Harris Medical Center is a 133-bed facility with inpatient and outpatient care. The staff at the Newport medical center includes more than 225 health care professionals.
In addition to the two main facilities, Unity Health also encompasses Clarity Health and Wellness; Family Practice Associates; McAfee Medical Clinics; the Orthopaedic and Spine Center; Searcy Medical Center and the Searcy Medical Center-West Clinic; the Westside Family Medical Clinic; the Unity Health Cardiology Clinic, formerly the WCMC Cardiology Clinic; the Unity Health Oncology Clinic, formerly White County Oncology; the Harris Medical Clinic; the Harris Family Practice Clinic; the Green Family Practice Clinic; the Harris OB-GYN Clinic; the Harris Podiatry Clinic; the Harris Orthopedic Clinic; the Harris Surgical Clinic; the Harris Pediatric Clinic; the Harris Internal Medicine Clinic-East; the Harris Primary Care Clinic; the Newport Primary Care Clinic; the Newport Cardiology Clinic; and the Newport Pediatric Clinic. All will adopt the addition of “Unity Health” to their names.
Staff writer Angela Spencer can be reached at (501) 244-4307 or aspencer@arkansasonline.com.