New NPMC CEO applauds county COVID-19 numbers
National Park Medical Center’s newly hired CEO, Scott Smith, commended Garland County on Monday for keeping
COVID-19 testing numbers high and maintaining a low amount of positive cases.
“Today, this hospital (NPMC) doesn’t have a COVID patient in it, and hasn’t for quite some time,” Smith told members of Oaklawn Rotary Club during their weekly meeting. “We’ve maintained around a 1% positive rate for several weeks now and that’s good. (The rate is) not going up and it’s going to be where it is, level, and going down, I hope.”
He said there have been four positive COVID-19 cases in the county over the past week.
“Four cases; that’s just not a lot for Garland County, and that’s good,” Smith said. “Of course, one case is too many, in my opinion. … But you just haven’t had it like other parts of the country, and that goes back to local government working hand-in-hand, everyone following CDC guidelines, what’s new — and believe you me, this stuff changes every day.”
Guidelines to follow in order to protect the community from a COVID-19 outbreak were changing every day at the beginning of the pandemic, he noted, but said it has gotten better.
“We as a hospital are taking deliberate steps to get back to serving the community like we always have,” Smith said. “As you probably know, up until a couple of weeks ago we were not able to resume our elective surgery process. All that is back up and going now, so there’s a backlog of patients who have to be done, and we’re working through that now.”
What should not happen, he said, is
people delaying health care needs in an emergency situation.
“Meaning, if it is (an emergency), we’re going to work you in,” Smith said. “At the same time of working through the backlog of things that have been put on hold because of this virus. So everybody’s health is of utmost importance, and we’re going to make sure that we have all the processes in place to make sure we’re taking care of our community.”
When someone does enter an NPMC facility, he said it’s going to look “a bit different.”
“When you go in a clinic, you’re going to go in the doors masked, limiting visitation and social distancing,” Smith said. “It’s going to be that way for some time. But just know that whatever you do when you come to (NPMC) you’re entrusting us with your care or your neighbor, your family, whoever it is, and it’s our privilege to serve you at (NPMC).”
Daily, he said his position requires him to wait in line to have his temperature checked and be asked screening questions before starting his workday.
“I’m human, I don’t like waiting, and they put the bracelet on and ask me the same questions every day, but you have to do it,” Smith said. “And the good thing about being in my position is no matter where I go, everybody else is doing it, so I’m like ‘OK, I can do this because it’s the right thing to do right now and we have to do it.’”
Regardless of being able to tell people what NPMC is doing to prevent a COVID-19 outbreak, he said nobody has an answer for the virus itself.
“We need a vaccine and I hope and pray you have a vaccine by November or December of this year,” Smith said. “Truthfully, I really think they’ve got one, they’re just running it through the trials right now. There may be more than one, actually, if you read the literature.”
COVID-19 is “just an unknown for us right now,” he said. “We’ve got to make sure that all of our procedures — and they are — are (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommended, state and federal guidelines are followed. … So it may be a little cumbersome at times, but just know that we’re not only doing it for us, we’re doing it for you, just to try to keep the major part of our population safe during this COVID crisis.”
Smith began his position as CEO and Market CEO at both NPMC and Saline Memorial Hospital, another LifePoint Health facility located in Benton, on May 25. He has been part of LifePoint Health since 2006 and comes to Hot Springs from Dodge City, Kan., where he served as CEO at Western Plains Medical Complex since 2018.