Thanks to everyone who came out for our Healthy Connections 2023 Community Easter Egg Hunt at our Mena clinic on Fiday, April 7.
The 2023 event was a huge success with double the eggs and double the fun.. Thanks to our Healthy Connections co-workers who put together and staffed the event. Thanks to community businesses who donated the many prizes we were able to give away. Thanks to Arvest Bank for providing and cooking the food. And thanks to KENA for brroadcasting live.
We were also able to promote and give Covid-19 vaccines and boosters to anyone who wanted one.
Healthy Connections was founded in Mena 25 years ago and continues to call Polk County home.
Check out the photos from the event on our Facebook page.
Congratulations to our Healthy Connections Shining STAR Employees of the Month for March:
(DRUMROLL)
WEST: DEVIN GAGE
EAST: KIM BROWN
Each month across the Healthy Connections Community Health Network, exemplary employees are nominated for this award for representing our Three Pillars: Excellence, Compassion, and Community. These pillars are considered heavily when choosing winners.
As winners of this Shining STAR award, Devin and Kim are winners of a $50 gift card to the HC Hub Company Store.
Devin is a Registered Nurse at the Mena clinic. He joined Healthy Connections in 2019. Kim is a Patient Care Coordinator at the Little Rock Midtown clinic. She joined Healthy Connections in 2022. In their nominations, this is some of what their co-workers said about them:
- “Devin is great with the patients. He also is wonderful at training others. He has a lot of patience.”
- “Kim is kindhearted, calm, and respectful. When patients come in or even call, she does anything she can to help them the best she can.”
- “Devin is very helpful and patient. He ensures that the patients are taken care of. He takes the time to speak to them and answer all the questions that they ask.”
- “When it comes to helping patients Kim goes above and beyond. She takes her time and will not end a call until the issue has been resolved. She shows care with dealing with the patients and is very empathetic to their situations.”
Congratulations to both Devin and Kim.
Thanks again this month to everyone who nominated an employee. There were a lot of great nominations. Do you know who should be our next employees to be recognized? You can nominate them by visiting https://www.healthy-connections.org/nominate.
Healthy Connections is excited to welcome back Dr. Patrick J. Fox to the Mena clinic.
Call 888-710-8220 for appointments with Dr. Fox at the Health Park location (136 Health Park Lane, Mena). He will see patients for primary care/family medicine, sick and wellness visits, HIV, Hepatitis C, Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), and more.
Dr. Fox previously worked for Healthy Connections from 2014 to 2019. He is a previous winner of Best Family Physician in the Polk County Best of the Best. He spent the past four years at Mena Medical Associates.
“We are excited to welcome back Dr. Fox to our Healthy Connections family. He understands the importance of patient education, preventive medicine, and proper management of chronic health conditions,” said Healthy Connections, Inc., CEO Tony Calandro.
Dr. Fox attended UAMS in Little Rock and UAMS AHEC in Pine Bluff for his residency.
Healthy Connections is excited to announce our second annual Community Easter Egg Hunt will be held Friday, April 7 in Mena.
This year we’ve got DOUBLE THE EGGS for you to find at this this FREE event. Join us on the Healthy Connections campus at 136 Health Park Lane. Festivities will get under way at 10 a.m. There will be snacks and refreshments and prizes donated by local businesses. Plus, you can win the grand prize if you find the HCI Egg.
We will also be providing Covid-19 vaccines and boosters to the community.
We hope to see you in Mena on April 7 for some fun.
What: Easter Egg Hunt
When: 10 a.m. on Friday, April 7
Where: 136 Health Park Lane, Mena
Ages: 0-12
A look back at our 2022 event.
Congratulations to our February 2023 Healthy Connections Employees of the Month:
(DRUMROLL)
WEST: gena esser
EAST: jasmine brown
Each month across the Healthy Connections Community Health Network, exemplary employees are nominated for this award for representing our Three Pillars: Excellence, Compassion, and Community. These pillars are considered heavily when choosing winners.
As winners of this Shining STAR award, Gena and Jasmine are winners of a $50 gift card to the HC Hub Company Store.
Gena is a Medical Assistant at the Mena clinic and has worked for Healthy Connections for more than a year. Jasmine has only worked for Healthy Connections a short time but is already making her mark as a patient care coordinator at the Little Rock Midtown clinic. Check out these amazing comments left by their coworkers when nominating them for this award:
- “Gena has never failed to jump in and help wherever she can. She is the definition of a team player. She also keeps a smile on her face while helping. As a patient and coworker, I couldn’t be happier to be on a team with her.”
- “Jasmine went above and beyond to help get a [form] signed for a patient that needed records to submit to insurance for a surgical procedure. She was so kind and could hear the smile on her face over the phone. What a great team player and example for others.”
- “Gena is always helping the other nurses before anyone even asks. She is so good with the patients. She hustles no matter what she is doing.”
- “Jasmine goes out of her way to make sure each and every patient is taken care of in a timely manner. She is very attentive when it comes to doing things the right way and most definitely has all three pillars.”
Congratulations to both Gena and Jasmine.
Thanks again this month to everyone who nominated an employee. There were a lot of great nominations. Do you know who should be our next employees to be recognized? You can nominate them by visiting https://www.healthy-connections.org/nominate.
Healthy Connections, Inc., held a special event on Tuesday to celebrate the retirement of Director of Nursing Phyllis Cunningham.
She has spent the past 14 years with Healthy Connections and the past 32 years in nursing. She has been an amazing leader to us all and we wish her the best in the next chapter of her life.
“Kindness is so critical to our success and to making our workplace happy. I love Maya Angelou’s quote: ‘I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.’ I’ve always tried to live by that,” Cunningham said. “I don’t know that I bring a lot of skill but I do try to bring that. Being kind and loving people and caring about people makes all of our work every day so much easier.”
Cunningham has been a part of tremendous growth for Healthy Connections in her 14 years with the organization. When she started, Healthy Connections had just two clinics – Mena and Mt. Ida. There are now 13 clinics in nine communities stretched from Little Rock to De Queen.
“From the staff and everyone at Healthy Connections, we want to let Phyllis know how much we appreciate you,” said Tony Calandro, CEO of Healthy Connections, Inc. “I think everyone is aware of how large we have gotten and Phyllis has gone along with the paces the entire time. In everything we have done, she has stepped up.”
Cunningham is known for her sense of humor and sayings that bring smiles to the faces of her co-workers. One of her favorites is, “We choose our attitude every single day.”
“This has been a great place. There are so many opportunities here,” Cunningham said.
Thanks, Phyllis for all you’ve done for our patients, co-workers, and communities.
