Defying the Odds Despite Obstacles, Physician Hospital Being Built in Conway Even though plans for many physician-owned hospitals in development are being dropped across the United States, Dallas, Texas-based Cirrus Health is continuing with plans to develop a physician hospital in Conway. Medical News of Arkansas spoke with Cirrus Health COO Taylor Wilson to learn more about the benchmark project. LYNNE JETER

Longtime MD Volunteer Retires Charles Floyd Served Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center Since 1994 FAYETTEVILLE—When Charles Floyd, MD, retired earlier this year after serving the Northwest Arkansas Free Health Center for 16 years, he earned a landmark designation as the physician with the most consecutive years of volunteer service. LYNNE JETER

Program Offers Help for Impaired Physicians Doctors Return to Practice Safely with Confidential Treatment, Follow-up Physicians and others who work in the medical field often experience tremendous stress in both their professional and personal lives, which can sometimes lead to substance abuse or other mental health issues. SERENAH McKAY

Delta Doctors Program Attracting Foreign Physicians to Medically Underserved Areas The Delta Regional Authority (DRA) Delta Doctors program has been a win-win for foreign physicians attracted to locate in Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs) of Arkansas and elsewhere in the Delta and the patients who benefit from the care, according to Ramona Taylor, director of development, Crittenden Regional Hospital, West Memphis. BECKY GILLETTE - 1 opinion posted

Greening Your Practice Will Save Green Environmentally Friendly Operations Benefit Budget, Employees and Patients When the University of Florida in Gainesville built its new freestanding Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Institute five years ago, the practice made the decision to be eco-friendly. It was a good move, both for environmental sustainability and for the practice’s pocketbook, says the institute’s administrator, Leslie Jebson. SHARON H. FITZGERALD

Disruptive Behavior is Bad for Patients Survey Reveals Troubling Conduct in the Healthcare Environment Being a good member of a team means playing well with others, but a recent survey by the American College of Physician Executives reveals that disruptive behavior by professional members of healthcare teams compromises patient safety, undermines cooperation and makes going to work a miserable experience. SHARON H. FITZGERALD

UAMS Cancer Institute Expands NIH Grants Fund “Open Bench” Research Labs LITTLE ROCK–A $10.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will support construction of the 12-story expansion tower to the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. LYNNE JETER

Mapping Out a Plan of Attack The Cancer Genome Atlas Provides Repository for Data, Discoveries The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) is a comprehensive effort to create a data repository for the discoveries and findings of more than 150 of the nation’s top researchers who are working in concert on specific cancer types. These scientists, who are based out of more than two dozen renowned institutions, are systematically mapping genomic changes to create a cancer atlas accessible to all who are searching for better methods to prevent, diagnose and treat cancer. CINDY SANDERS

Making Headway in Brain Cancer TCGA Data Generates New Findings for Glioblastoma Multiforme Through the work of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), researchers have confirmed the most common form of malignant brain cancer in adults, glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), isn’t one disease as once believed but is, instead, four distinct molecular subtypes. CINDY SANDERS

Vladimir V. Karpitskiy, MD, PhD Neurology Associates of Hot Springs HOT SPRINGS—At 60, most physicians begin to think about retirement. Instead, Vladimir Karpitskiy keeps setting records, achieving milestones, and raising the bar for medical practitioners in Arkansas. Karpitskiy recently became the first neurologist board-certified in neuromuscular medicine, when he passed the bar for the subspecialty on his first try last August. LYNNE JETER