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TEXARKANA — Not many places are like Texarkana. "You got Bristol," related one local chamber of commerce official of multi-state towns. "You got Fargo, but no, not many places like here."

The key is the state line, literally State Line Road in Texarkana that splits the town between Arkansas and Texas. The Chamber of Commerce doesn't claim either state, instead going with "Texarkana, USA." But at least the chamber's building is in Texas, while across the state line and the street is an Arkansas Burger King.

While the town is split, it isn't split evenly. The population is moving toward the Texas side, and the town's growth has also been in Texas. As for healthcare, it is all on the Texas side as well, making for a unique situation. "It makes a little difficult for billing," said Linda Remer, a spokeswoman for CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System. "The different states have different reimbursements for the procedures. And it isn't just Arkansas and Texas. Our service area covers four states: Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. All of them do things a little differently." And that really shouldn't be that surprising. After all, the "ana" in Texarkana comes from the "ana" in Louisiana. The rules and regulations for hospitals are different between Arkansas and Texas as well. For example, in Arkansas, smoking has been banned on all hospital campuses. In Texas, "the state has not banned smoking," Remer said. "But as a system, CHRISTUS banned smoking at all of its facilities, so we don't allow it here either."




Local Healthcare

Of the town's four hospitals, CHRISTUS St. Michael is the largest, with 278 beds and a smaller rehab facility located on an expansive, tree-lined campus off of Interstate 30. "This is our 90th anniversary," Remer said. "The hospital was founded on Sept. 14, 1916 by the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word."

The hospital was originally known as the Michael Meagher Memorial Hospital, grew into another facility and another name in 1945, when Albert L. Fletcher, a bishop with the Diocese of Little Rock blessed and laid the cornerstone for St. Michael Hospital, and it opened in 1948. More additions and renovations came along, and in the early 1990s, it was decided that a new facility was needed. In 1994, the newest and most current version of the hospital opened. "We are a system now," Remer said. "We have the hospital here and the rehab hospital. We also have a management arrangement with the hospital in Magnolia."

The newest building on the campus is the imaging center that is loaded with high-tech gear. "We have a 64-slice CT," said Lisa Patterson, who runs the facility. "We have computer aided mammography; we have two MRIs. We have the PACS system for the doctors. We try to have everything here, so we don't have to send people somewhere else, like Dallas or Little Rock."

The new imaging center wasn't part of the 90th anniversary. "It was just coincidence," Remer said. "Opening it was part of our five year plan, but it wasn't timed to open at this time." What was planned was the CHRISTUS St. Michael Sisters' Park, a walking trail that loops through the campus, and staying close to the hospital's Catholic roots, the trail replicates the Stations of the Cross.



Around Town

CHRISTUS St. Michael isn't the only hospital in town. Wadley Hospital is also in Texarkana, and HealthSouth of Texarkana operates a rehab facility and was recently recognized as a Stroke Rehabilitation Center of Excellence.

One of the keys to that was the purchase and use of a device called the AutoAmbulator. The device allows a person who is having difficulty getting around to do rehab work.

The device holds the patient up while robotic braces move the patient's legs on a treadmill. Outfitted with computers, the system will monitor the patient and make the necessary adjustments during the rehab work.

The device can be used for any disease or orthopedic condition that results in gait abnormality. So the patients could range from someone with multiple sclerosis to someone rehabbing from an auto accident.

"The auto ambulator has the ability to passively move a person's legs through the gait cycle and can also work in conjunction with the patient's movements to assist them as they perform the motions of normal walking," said Todd Wallace, director of clinical services for HealthSouth of Texarkana. "In this way, the AutoAmbulator can be a tool for progression as a patient's walking improves. It allows a patient to 'feel' normal walking motions creating sensory input which enhances motor return. Feeling the correct pattern for walking can help to reduce development of abnormal walking strategies and assist with resolving poor walking techniques once developed."




December 2006

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