Fitness
• In January 2018, HealthWorks Fitness Center hosted free community fitness classes on Saturdays, which lasted until March 24.
The classes were held outside and were focused on cross training methods, including tire flipping, sled pulls, wall tosses and basic calisthenics. They targeted both cardio and strength training.
The classes were hosted as a way to fulfill HealthWorks’ mission to “identify, develop and foster programs and services that further the health and well-being of the people of our community and surrounding areas.”
The gym had also planned to host other free community classes throughout the year as well as a quarterly “open gym” day for residents, regardless if they had a membership to the gym or not, to be able to come in and try some of the services that the gym offers.
• In March 2019, HealthWorks announced a new, unique exercise program called Rock Steady Boxing.
Based on training used by boxing professionals and adapted to people with Parkinson's disease, the program involves regular exercises from stretching, running, push-ups, balancing, non-contact boxing and much more.
HealthWorks Fitness Center
A part of the SHARE Foundation, HealthWorks Fitness Center offers a plethora of perks for members, including fitness classes, a pool, juice bar, a child care facility and much more. The gym has been an El Dorado staple for many years, and hosts events for the community as well as participates in various community activities throughout the year.
Facility hours are 5 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 5 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
Iron Temple
Opened in 2014, the Iron Temple Gym, announced in December 2018 that the gym would be relocating. The gym reopened at its new location, 828 W 14th St. in January 2019.
The Iron Temple is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Planet Fitness
Opened April 30, 2018, the home of the Judgment-Free Zone, Planet Fitness, was opened in El Dorado. Offering two low-cost membership options, the gym has a variety of amenities for members including tanning, massage chairs, personalized fitness plans, flexible hours and the ability to workout at any PF location (if a person has the black card membership) among a variety of other perks.
The gym is open 24 hours Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Opioids
• In January, the El Dorado City Council was made aware of a letter sent to the city from a litigation team representing the Arkansas Municipal League and other municipalities around the state to investigate and prosecute claims against companies and other parties that manufacture and/or distribute opioid medications.
Following a discussion during a meeting, the council decided against participating in the efforts by the state to pursue legal action against pharmaceutical companies and decided to try to approach the growing opioid crisis in other ways. The council felt that focusing on medical professionals who write the prescriptions and providing law enforcement with the tools necessary to purchase overdose antidotes would be a more effective avenue to address the issues.
Following the council’s decision to not participate in the litigation against pharmaceutical companies in January, in February several council members reversed their original decision and voted in favor of participation in a 5 - 3 poll.
• MCSA opened its new inpatient substance abuse medical withdrawal service in early November to help treat patients who suffer from addiction to alcohol, opioids and benzodiazepines. The program is voluntary and ensures that patients will be medically-supervised during withdrawal, which can potentially be life-threatening depending on the addiction and rate of drug use.
In addition to withdrawal treatment, the plan also provides patients with a personalized treatment and a discharge plan to help them in their recovery.
• The Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care announced that they were awarded a $200,000 grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services' Health Resources and Services Administration to help fight opioid abuse in rural Arkansas.
AFMC would partner with UAMS' Center for Distance Health and Unity Health to implement a one year Rural Arkansas Planning Taskforce for an Opioid Response grant. The funds from the grant would be used to form a consortium of statewide organizations that would plan a comprehensive approach to opioid abuse prevention, treatment and recovery.
Testing/Etc.
• South Arkansas Fights AIDS offered free oral HIV testing on Feb. 7 as part of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. In addition to free HIV testing, the organization also offers resources on sexually transmitted diseases, abstinence and related topics and presents educational programs throughout the community. It also directs services, including a monthly food pantry, to those affected by HIV/AIDS.
Mental Health
• As part of the Violence Intervention Plan, the South Arkansas Children’s Coalition (SACC) was chosen to receive a grant from the SHARE Foundation.
Acting as an overseer for the 13th Judicial District South Court Appointed Special Advocates and Children’s Advocacy Center of South Arkansas, SACC announced that it would be using the grant to help fund a mental health professional to work with abused children that the nonprofit helps.
• Following the influx of school shootings, several schools in the county worked to implement more mental health services for students. In addition to the already existing anti-bullying laws, El Dorado High School students were introduced to a program called Step Up! The program is designed to motivate students to intervene when they see bullying occur among their peers.
The school has also amped up intervention for the bully. Every school that falls under the El Dorado School District has at least one guidance counselor on campus, with ESD having three. Each counselor is trained in recognizing symptoms of mental illness and is able to provide a student with resources for help if needed.
Medicaid
• The Arkansas Department of Human Services announced proposed changes on new limits to restrict Medicaid eligibility for children in developmental programs.
The “One Therapy Rule” proposed policy change would go into effect on July 1, and would lead to more than 100 children in El Dorado with developmental delays to lose medically necessary developmental services. Within 18 months, the policy change would affect 3,300 children in the state.
Programs such as ECCEL would be affected. ECCEL is a Developmental Day Treatment Clinic Service and is prescribed to parents of developmentally delayed children by a doctor as a medical need. Rather than receiving services from programs such as this, the state proposed placing children in state-funded programs such as ABC, Head Start and Early Head Start.
However, several in the city were opposed to the proposition because programs proposed by the state are more curriculum based, rather than being individualized by each child’s specific needs, citing that the state system would implement a “one-therapy rule” that would limit the hours children were then receiving at DDTCS programs.
• More changes to the Medicaid program were announced, with proposed rule changes to ARChoices, a program that includes in-home and community-based services for adults with physical disabilities as well as senior citizens. The proposed changes could affect local residents and businesses.
Changes in the rule would range from altering the process of assessment for program applicants to changing the services that care providers give as well as defining who may be a caregiver.
Medical
• The Medical Center of South Arkansas and the Arkansas Heart Hospital announced an alliance reflecting their commitment to heart health in southern Arkansas. The two would work together to strengthen the recruitment of physicians specializing in cardiology, enhance heart health educational opportunities and better meet the health needs of the communities they serve across the region.
• In recognition of a longtime surgeon, the Medical Center of South Arkansas named its new conference center the Robert C. Tommey Conference Center in honor of Dr. Robert Tommey.
Tommey has served as a surgeon for MCSA for over 36 years.
• Union County was able to test stroke detection equipment in a ProMed ambulance as part of a pilot telemedicine program.
Funded by the Arkansas Department of Health, organized by University of Arkansas and led by Arkansas Stroke Assistance through Virtual Emergency Support (AR SAVES), the program was in partnership with UAMS Center for Distance Health, DHS and 55 hospitals including MSCA.
The program was aimed to study the effectiveness of telemedicine in an ambulance. The vehicle was set up with a touchscreen that allows paramedics to call ahead to a stroke neurologist with three cameras over a patient so the physician could look for visible signs of stroke.
• Arkansas Children’s Hospital announced a joint commitment with MCSA, making MCSA the newest member of the Arkansas Children’s Hospital’s Nursery Alliance, which would help elevate neonatal care for the region’s newborns. MCSA was the fifth member to be added to the alliance.
The two-part program would include educating physicians and specialists on how to be more proficient with infant care, and to focus on a neonatal intensive care unit. The program would help keep more moms and their babies closer to home and together.
• After an absence, the "Discussions with the Doctor" series was announced that it would be returning in March 2019. The quarterly series is a joint effort between the UAMS South Arkansas Center on Aging Education Center and MCSA and is aimed toward anyone in the community who would like to come and listen to speakers cover various health related topics. Participants are welcome to attend and ask any questions. This forum would be a way to connect the community with members of the local health care industry, as well as provide resources and education.
