Katrina Dupins

In 1994, a single clinic opened its doors in Marshall, Arkansas, with a simple promise: no one in the community would be turned away for lack of ability to pay. Three decades later, that promise has grown into Boston Mountain Rural Health Center (BMRHC), a federally qualified health center (FQHC) now serving twelve counties across Northwest, Central, and North Central Arkansas.

Susan Ward-Jones, M.D., CEO of East Arkansas Family Health Center, Inc. (EAFHC), has been elected to lead the Board of Community Health Centers of Arkansas (CHCA), the largest primary care network in the state.

When the hospital in Corning, Arkansas closed its doors in 1990, a community refused to go without. A group of neighbors led by Brigitte McDonald, a former employee of the hospital, wrote a grant, applied for a federally qualified health center designation, and got to work. 1st Choice Healthcare opened in 1994. McDonald has been there every year since. She serves as the health center’s Chief Executive Officer.