February is recognized as American Heart Month, a time in which we spread the word about strategies for preventing heart disease and encourage people to live heart-healthy lives.
Did you know the Healthy Connections Community Health Network offers cardiology and cardiovascular disease treatment in both Mena and Hot Springs? Visit www.healthy-connections.org/heart for more information.
Friday, February 5, 2021, is designated as National Wear Red Day as part of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women initiative. For information on this event, visit www.goredforwomen.org.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States. In most years, 1 in 4 deaths is caused by heart disease. The good news is that heart disease can often be prevented when people make healthy choices and manage their health conditions. Communities, health professionals, including those at Healthy Connections, and families can work together to create opportunities for people to make healthier choices.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, many people have delated or avoided going to hospitals for heart attacks and strokes – netting poorer outcomes and prompting the AHA to create “Don’t Die of Doubt,” a national awareness campaign that reminds people that hospitals are the safest place to go when you have symptoms.
Also during the pandemic, more people have engaged in unhealthy lifestyle behaviors such as poor eating, drinking more alcohol, and limiting physical activity. These factors can contribute to heart disease.
Heart disease continues to be the greatest health threat to Americans and is still the leading cause of death worldwide, according to the AHA’s Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2021 update. The report a 17.1 increase and a 26.6 percent increase in cardiovascular disease over the past decade.
In most cases, heart disease is preventable when people adopt a healthy lifestyle, which includes not smoking, maintaining a healthy weight, controlling blood sugar and cholesterol, treating high blood pressure, getting at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity a week, and getting regular checkups.
If you have questions about your heart, please make an appointment at our cardiology clinics in Mena or Hot Springs by calling 888-710-8220. Learn more at www.healthy-connections.org/heart.
We’re excited to announce our December 2020 Healthy Connections Community Health Network employees of the month:
West: Peggy Vines
East: Sarah Jennings
Each month we ask for employees to be nominated for this award for their exemplification of the Healthy Connections Three Pillars: Excellence, Compassion, and Community. These pillars are considered heavily when choosing winners.
As winners, Peggy and Sarah are winners of a $50 gift card or one day off work.
Peggy is a licensed practical nurse (LPN) at Healthy Connections Mt. Ida (Montgomery County Community Clinic). Her co-workers had this to say about her:
- “Peggy is a very hard worker and always goes the extra step to take care of our patients.”
- “Peggy has a positive attitude and a very approachable demeanor. She has wonderful customer service skills and takes great care in communicating with co-workers and her patients.”
Sarah is a licensed practical nurse (LPN) with the Little Rock Franklin and Health For Life Clinic (Little Rock Midtown) locations. Her co-workers had this to say about her:
- “Sarah has been a true asset to HCI at both the Little Rock Midtown and LR Franklin clinics. She has a wonderful rapport with the patients – making them all feel like a priority and setting them at ease.”
- “Sarah greets each person with a smile and asks how they are doing. She is always willing to help – filling in at other clinics whenever asked and taking on additional tasks without complaint. Sarah is a joy to work with and I am happy to have her as a part of my team.”
Congratulations to both Peggy and Sarah.
Do you know who should be our next to be recognized? Nominate by visiting www.healthy-connections.org/nominate.
Healthy Connections, Inc., and its CEO Tony Calandro were selected as finalists for the Nonprofit Organization of the Year awards.
Healthy Connections, Inc., and CEO Tony Calandro have been named finalists in the Arkansas Business 33rd Annual Business of the Year awards.
Healthy Connections, Inc., is a finalist for the Nonprofit Organization of the Year, while Calandro is a finalist for the Nonprofit Executive of the Year. The winners of each category will be revealed at the awards ceremony and published in a special supplement of Arkansas Business on March 3, 2021.
Finalists were selected by an outside panel of judges and coordinated by Arkansas Business. Thirty-two finalists are selected from across the state in seven categories. See the complete list of finalists at www.ArkansasBusiness.com/ABOY.
Healthy Connections is a Mena-based nonprofit community health network with clinic locations in Mena, Hot Springs, Little Rock, Malvern, Arkadelphia, Mount Ida, and De Queen. Since its founding as a home-visiting program in 1998, Healthy Connections has been able to provide much-needed health, dental, behavioral health, and social services to families of every lifestyle.
Over the past year, Healthy Connections took its services to more places than ever before. When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, Healthy Connections provided completely-free testing at stops in 10 different Arkansas counties, including some without clinic locations like Texarkana, Gurdon, and Nashville. These day-long events took place in blazing heat and driving rainstorms as employees braved the elements to ensure anyone who wanted to be tested could be tested.
The year also saw an expansion in services with the addition of the Health For Life Clinic and Evolve Behavioral Health and Medication Management. Health For Life Clinic, which provides addiction treatment and testing and treatment for HIV/AIDS patients in Little Rock, joined the community health network in February and has been among the busiest clinics in the network. Evolve brought individual, family, and group mental health therapy to patients across west and central Arkansas just before the pandemic took off.
Cars line up at the mass testing event held in Texarkana in July.
In January, Healthy Connections opened the Franklin Community Health Center in the parking lot of the old Franklin Elementary School in Little Rock. This neighborhood clinic location provided much-requested medical services in a location that was considered a medical desert. And when the pandemic hit, this clinic was at the heart of the Covid-19 testing program.
In May as stay-at-home orders were being issued throughout the state, Healthy Connections quickly expanded its telehealth program to make sure as many patients as possible could be seen from the comfort of their own home.
“We are honored to be recognized alongside the other nonprofit organizations in this category,” Calandro said. “This year has been like no other. Our employees have faced many challenges and consistently found ways to overcome them, ensuring that our patients continue to receive the highest level of care.”
In the Nonprofit Organization of the Year category, Healthy Connections joins Arkansas Research Alliance, Arkansas Immigrant Defense, Children’s Advocacy of Benton County, and The Venture Center as finalists. Healthy Connections was also selected as a finalist in 2018 and 2019.
Calandro joined Healthy Connections 10 years ago and has overseen growth from about 3,000 patients served to more than 23,000 last year.
“I am excited to be a finalist for this award, but know that it would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of our Healthy Connections staff,” Calandro said. “My philosophy has always been to provide employees with the tools and resources they need to do their jobs then stand back and watch them succeed. This award is a reflection of the job they did throughout the past year.”
In the Nonprofit Executive of the Year category, Calandro is joined by Shannon Boshears of UA-Pulaski Technical College Foundation, Wayne Miller of The Venture Center, Christian O’Neal of the UA-Little Rock Foundation, and Fred Scarborough of the Arkansas Children’s Foundation.
Learn more about Healthy Connections at www.healthy-connections.org.
These Healthy Connections employees were the tip of the iceberg this month. We present our November 2020 employees of the month:
- West: Tammy Abner
- West: Nikki Dillard
Each month we ask for employees to be nominated for this award for their exemplification of the Healthy Connections Three Pillars: Excellence, Compassion, and Community. Their dedication to these pillars never melted this month.
As winners, Tammy and Nikki are the winners of a $50 gift card or one day off work.
Tammy is a case manager in Mena. She has been working as a nurse in Mena.. Her co-workers said:
- “Tammy is very intelligent and helpful. She is very caring to her patients.”
- “Tammy has stepped up and been the nurse for Sandi and put her job on the side to help out without ever complaining. She is always willing to help in any area she is needed.”
Nikki is a phlebotomist in Mena. Her co-workers wrote:
- “Nikki is always keeping the workplace interesting. She is great with the patients and always on the ball. Nikki gets the job done.”
- “Nikki is fantastic at her job. Her patients like and appreciate her, and she gets the job done.”
Each month, Healthy Connections chooses one employee of the month for both the East and West communities. Do you know who should be our next to be recognized? Nominate by visiting www.healthy-connections.org/nominate.
This Thanksgiving Day, we at Healthy Connections give thanks for all of our providers, staff, patients, friends, and families.