The Medical Center of South Arkansas has started a community clean-up initiative around the hospital and surrounding areas.
“We thought the best way to get this started was to take the initiative and lead by example,” Eric Waller, director of supply chain and plan operations at MCSA, said. “Since improving the community was something we were asking community members to do, then we thought it was upon us to take that first step and that’s what we’ve been doing for the last six to eight months.”
To help make this plan a success, Waller said MCSA officials have met with several people and organizations including El Dorado Mayor Veronica Smith-Creer; Robert Edmonds, director of public works; members of the El Dorado-Union County Chamber of Commerce; and Keep El Dorado Beautiful.
“We started on our own campus, making sure our landscaping was up to par,” Alexandria Bennett, executive director of business development, said. “Also making sure we have frequent litter pick up around our campus and the streets around us.”
MCSA officials have also been in talks with local residents about collaborating to beautify the surrounding areas.
“We’ve also been talking to homeowners and renters around the neighborhood to see what they could do to make efforts on their properties as well,” Bennett said. “We’ve also brought in the city and the county to talk about the lack of maintenance on the surrounding streets; there are potholes, cracks and there is no sidewalk. But as some may have noticed now the city is renovating those roadways and putting in sidewalks.”
Bennett emphasized the importance of getting the city to do this because there is so much traffic around the hospital, and making sure there is sufficient access to the medical facility is important.
“Some people walk to the hospital to gain access to health care,” Bennett said. “We need the area to be well lit and the roads to have adequate space for ambulances when they are bringing patients in.”
The efforts to clean up are not just limited to the hospital campus and surrounding neighborhood, but have extended further for MCSA, Waller said.
“We’ve been keeping vacant lots between here (MCSA) and Northwest Avenue cleaned up since last fall on a routine basis,” Waller said. “In the last four to five months we’ve been using some of our crew to do trash pick up out of town and further away from campus. Specifically areas like Mt. Holly Road, Champagnolle Road and then Northwest Avenue where it intersects with AR 7 Hwy and US Route 167.”
Waller said Union County Judge Mike Loftin has committed to repave Thompson Avenue all the way through Grove Street as well as resurfacing some of the hospital’s parking lots. Loftin confirmed plans to get a contractor to resurface the areas highlighted by Waller.
“We’re hoping by doing this we are being leaders and inspiring other individuals and companies to take ownership of their area and areas around El Dorado,” Bennett said. “It is important for when we are talking about recruitment of companies, families and physicians to El Dorado that they see clean streets, neighborhoods and facilities. So we are going to be continuing our efforts and encouraging others to do the same.”
