Whatley joins Baptist Health Family Clinic
Baptist Health Family Clinic is excited to welcome Deonna Whatley, APRN, as the newest member of staff at their Malvern facility. Whatley specializes in family medicine with an emphasis on acute illnesses, chronic illnesses, diabetes, hypertension, medicare wellness exams, sports physicals and well child care.
Whatley is a Clark County native who graduated from Arkadelphia High School. She began her postsecondary education at Arkansas State University before transferring to Baptist Health College and completing her registered nursing degree there in 1991.
Whatley earned her APRN degree from Harding University in Searcy four years ago. She is board certified through the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
“Most of my career has been in the hospital,” Whatley said. She worked in ICU/ CCU, medical- surgical nursing, and cardiac rehab diabetic education for over 20 years at Baptist Health Medical Center in North Little Rock.
Whatley enjoyed her work in the hospital setting, but when she received her APRN degree in 2018, she felt led to transition into serving the medical needs of a more rural community.
“You should always follow your dreams, I don’t care how old you are, what they are, just follow your dreams,” Whatley said. “And that’s kind of what I did. I felt moved to serve the rural health community.”
Being an Arkadelphia native, Whatley missed the Hot Spring County area and began looking for a position in a rural setting closer to her roots. She found a position at a practice in Prescott, and she said she loved the job and the people and had no major plans to move until recently learning of the job opening in Malvern.
“When this job came open, my boss just asked me if I had considered applying, if I would want to throw my hat in the ring for the job,” Whatley said. Malvern isn’t exactly her hometown, but Whatley was excited by the prospect of working in the Hot Spring County area, being close to her family in Arkadelphia, and still being able to serve the rural community.
Whatley started with Baptist Health in Malvern at the beginning of June, then took a short preplanned medical break to assist her parents through her mother’s knee surgery. Last week was her first full week back on the job.
“I’ve only had really one full week here, but oh my gosh, my patients are just so, they’re so nice and they’re so kind, and they’ve been very patient with me, because I’m trying to learn their history and stuff like that,” Whatley said. “I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been a good transition.”
Moving camp to Malvern has been a very easy and natural transition for Whatley, and her new pa
tients and co- workers could not have been more warm and inviting to her.
“Heather and Dr. Bollen have been so welcoming, and the staff is just— they’re incredible,” Whatley said. “My mom had surgery, and the staff that I’d known for three days, they were texting me ‘ how’s your mom,’ and so, it’s just been a really good transition.”
Whatley’s new role charges her with the primary care of her new patients, and she takes that responsibility very seriously.
“You become responsible, not just for their medicines, but to educate them on how to live their best lives and to be as healthy as possible,” she said.
“I try not to make a lot of decisions for people,” Whatley said. “My philosophy is, just give them the information and let them make the best possible decisions for themselves, because they’re the ones that know themselves better than anybody.”
Whatley looks forward to getting to know people around Malvern and learning more about the community. Her new position promises to keep her very busy, but she will be taking advantage of everything Malvern has to offer as soon as she gets the chance.
“I’m so excited. I’m ready to kind of explore Main Street because there are so many cute- looking shops there, and I’m really looking forward to kind of connecting to the community,” Whatley said. “It’s been awhile since I’ve been here.”
Whatley and her husband of almost 29 years, Kyle, have talked about moving closer to Malvern to be near Deonna’s work and family, but Kyle’s parents live in Maumelle, so the couple have not made any concrete plans to relocate. The Whatleys currently live in the Little Rock area. They have a 23- year- old son, Jackson.
Whatley is accepting new patients and is available by appointment Monday through Friday, 8 a. m.- 5 p. m. She and the other skilled professionals at Baptist Health Family Clinic are eager to serve the Hot Spring County community and urge the public to visit their facility, located at 1234 S. Main St., or call 501- 337- 9066.