LITTLE STONE – The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement on Tuesday thanked everyone whose extraordinary efforts and continued sacrifices during the COVID-19 pandemic have had a positive impact on Arkansas families and communities.
Expressions of gratitude for pandemic relief efforts dominated this year’s Friends of ACHI appreciation event at the Clinton Presidential Library. The annual event featured a spoken word poem reflecting the challenges of recent years, “The Second Mountain”, written for ACHI by nationally acclaimed poet Chris James and performed by the author.
A video of James reading the poem is available at youtube.com/watch?v=uD1ov3Qz_bE.
ACHI President and CEO, Dr. Joe Thompson, expressed his thanks not only to ACHI’s friends and supporters, but to all Arkansans who have risen to the challenges of the pandemic for the greater good. , including healthcare workers, policy makers, school officials, religious leaders and business leaders.
“Thank you for the work you’ve done to bridge the gaps in our communities,” Thompson said. “We have a lot of work to do, but we survived this pandemic together, and I think a lot of the damage that the pandemic could have caused was prevented by the collective network that is represented here and by your networks in your communities. and throughout the state.
The event also included the presentation of the 2022 Dr. Tom Bruce Arkansas Health Impact Awards. This year’s recipients are the late Dr. Betty Ann Lowe, former medical director of Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and Jon Swanson, retired executive director of Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services.
On behalf of the ACHI Health Policy Board, ACHI annually presents the Dr. Tom Bruce Arkansas Health Impact Award to one or more individuals for their outstanding efforts to improve the health of all Arkansas. The award is named after the late Dr. Tom Bruce, dean of the University of Arkansas College of Medicine for a decade and a pioneer in the field of community health.
ACHI is a nonpartisan, independent health policy center that serves as a catalyst for improving the health of all Arkansans through evidence-based research, public issue advocacy, and collaborative program development. More information about the Tom Bruce Award, including a list of past recipients, is available at achi.net/arkansas-health-impact-award.
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