Should the law make hospitals allow visitors during COVID?

By Steve Brawner, © 2021 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Should hospitals allow patient visitors during the COVID-19 pandemic? Should the government require them to do so?

For some Arkansas state legislators, the answer to both is “yes.”

House Bill 1061 by Rep. Julie Mayberry, R-Hensley, would create the No Patient Left Alone Act requiring medical providers to let at least one person be present with patients each day at reasonable times.

Mayberry introduced the bill because many hospitals are severely limiting patient visitors during the pandemic. It has 11 co-sponsors in the House and six in the Senate.

Here’s the thing about being a journalist sometimes: You talk to a smart, persuasive person offering one side of the argument and decide they make sense. Then you talk to a smart, persuasive person on the other side. And then you rub your forehead and mutter, “I’m so confused.” Often, both sides have good arguments. Continue reading →

What Arkansas’ experts foresee in the pandemic

By Steve Brawner
© 2021 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

I’m not an expert in infectious disease epidemiology now, any more than I’m an expert in presidential impeachment law. But I can tell you what the people who are experts are saying: This is going to be a rough stretch in the pandemic in Arkansas.

Here’s Dr. Jose Romero, Arkansas’ secretary of health, at the governor’s weekly press conference Dec. 29: “We are seeing increased numbers of cases. And I expect, unfortunately, to see further increase in cases in the next couple of weeks.”

Dr. Joe Thompson, Arkansas Center for Health Improvement president and CEO, told me, “I think we still have a couple of months that … will be very challenging for the health care system, and also just for the general public.”

Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, the state’s epidemiologist, said, “We are headed into several weeks of potential great difficulty because of the high number of cases, the high number of hospitalizations, and unfortunately an increasing number of deaths.”

And Dr. Cam Patterson, chancellor of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, tweeted Dec. 30, “Unless circumstances change drastically, this will get worse before it gets better.” Continue reading →

Pittman won by winning three games, and not more

By Steve Brawner
© 2021 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

The Arkansas Razorbacks finished the season 3-7, but they were 10 points from being 6-4. For Coach Sam Pittman’s long-term job security, it was better that they were 3-7.

The Razorbacks had gone 2-10 the past two seasons, often looking embarrassingly overmatched. Former UA Athletic Director Frank Broyles’ worst nightmare had come true: Arkansas State probably was better.

The program reached such a low that Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek fired former coach Chad Morris with two games left in only his second season, triggering a $10 million buyout.

Pittman wasn’t the glamorous choice for a replacement, but he had two things going for him. Continue reading →

Arkansans of the Year: Servant-healers on the front lines

By Steve Brawner
© 2020 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

If the first Gulf War in 1990-91 was when Americans relearned respect for military service personnel, and the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 reminded us of the bravery of firefighters, then 2020 is the year to appreciate doctors and nurses who are battling the COVID-19 pandemic on the front lines.

Each year, Time magazine names its Person of the Year, and in that spirit I argue for an Arkansan or Arkansans of the Year in my little newspaper column. This year, there can be only one choice: the state’s brave, caring medical professionals. Continue reading →

Arkansan of the Year – almost

By Steve Brawner
© 2020 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Time magazine annually names its “Person of the Year,” or “Persons,” and in that spirit I write a little column about my Arkansan of the Year. This year, Time chose President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, wrongly. This was not the year to name an elected official.

But I will name one as the runner-up in Arkansas: Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The Arkansans who rank ahead of him are in my next post.

Time’s Person of the Year is based not so much on greatness or even goodness but on impact and significance, which is why it’s chosen Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Putin in the past.

Under that standard – impact and significance – Hutchinson would surely qualify. Who knew the governor could be so important? His actions have more directly affected all Arkansans’ lives this year than any elected official’s have since … maybe Franklin Roosevelt? Continue reading →