Arkansas Rural Health Partnership (ARHP) is expanding statewide.
The grassroots effort began in Southeast Arkansas in 2008 as a coalition of five small hospitals. ARHP, a nonprofit collaborative dedicated to improving health care in rural communities, is expanding its reach to ensure Arkansans can access high-quality care close to home, according to a news release.
Today, ARHP unites more than 30 organizations — rural hospitals, federally qualified health centers, medical schools, associations and emergency medical services providers.
“Our mission has always been about collaboration,” said Mellie Boagni, president and CEO of ARHP. “By bringing rural providers together, we can solve challenges no single hospital or clinic can tackle alone.”
Over the past year, ARHP welcomed new members statewide — including White River Health in Batesville, Community Health Centers of Arkansas, Pafford Medical Services, Baptist Health Medical Centers in Arkadelphia and Hot Spring County, East Arkansas Family Health Center, Olly Neal Community Health Center, Healthy Connections, Southwest Arkansas Regional Medical Center, ARcare and DePaul Community Health Center.
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Together, the partnership’s members provide critical services ranging from emergency response and primary care to behavioral health, pharmacy access and chronic disease prevention. The organization also spearheads initiatives addressing hospital sustainability, food insecurity and mental health — issues that weigh most heavily on rural communities, according to the release.
THE ARKANSAS RURAL HEALTH ACADEMY
The organization has always focused on meeting people where they are. Building on that commitment, ARHP launched the Arkansas Rural Health Academy (ARHA) in 2025 to train the next generation of health care providers. Through hands-on programs in patient care technician, medical assistant, EKG and community health worker careers, ARHA is helping to close workforce gaps while creating new opportunities for students across the state. To date, the academy’s lead nurse educator has successfully graduated two cohorts of patient care technicians and one medical assistant cohort, with another medical assistant class beginning Sept. 30.
In parallel, ARHP’s emergency medical services training director is bringing high-quality emergency medical training directly to rural Arkansas, according to the release.
With support from the Delta Regional Authority and the Department of Labor, these programs have already trained 70 EMTs, 68 paramedics and 8 community paramedics.
ARHP also manages the Rural Health Association of Arkansas, a membership-based network that provides education, advocacy and collaboration opportunities for more than 400 rural health professionals statewide.
Details: arruralhealth.org.