News

State Senate President Pro Tempore, Senator Paul Bookout, recently appointed CHCA's Lynn Caldwell Hawkins to the Arkansas Rural Development Commission (ARDC) by .  The ARDC’s mission is to enhance the quality of life in rural Arkansas by providing oversight and direction to the Department of Rural Services community grant program.

Hawkins has over 12 years of experience working with non-profit agencies that have provided direct services to rural Arkansans. She currently serves as the Network/Community Development Manager for Community Health Centers of Arkansas, Inc. (CHCA), Arkansas’ Primary Care Association, and has been employed by CHCA since 2002. She is active in promoting health care access through CHCA advocacy outreach and promotion.  

During her nine years with CHCA, Hawkins has worked directly with Mid-Delta Community Consortium (Helena-West Helena) and Health Resources of Arkansas, Inc. (Batesville) to provide assistance in 39 Delta counties of eastern Arkansas. While employed at CHCA, Hawkins served for four years as ARCare’s  (formerly White River Rural Health Centers, Inc.) Delta Network Director, covering nine counties in eastern Arkansas. 

Prior to employment at CHCA, Hawkins was employed by Mid-Delta Health Systems, Inc. (formerly Counseling Services of Eastern Arkansas, Inc.) as a Community Mental Health Case Manager and served as a volunteer to the American Cancer Society through fundraising and government relations for Monroe County.  In 2002 she served as a one of  Monroe Counties, Arkansas Ambassadors for the American Cancer Society “Celebration on the Hill” in Washington, DC. 

Hawkins is a recent graduate of the 2009-2010 Delta Leadership Institute Executive Academy (operated by Delta Regional Authority in conjunction with the University of Alabama).