By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
After 30 years of fighting the idea of a merger between Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute and East Arkansas Community College, CRTI President Burl Lieblong this week received the go ahead from the CRTI board to begin working towards an amicable combining of the two educational institutions.
In a board meeting at the school on Thursday, Lieblong updated the group on several technical institutions across the state which have merged with community colleges recently and the process he'd like to see used in a possible merger of CRTI and EACC. Lieblong told board members that he hopes to work with state lawmakers to draw up legislation that would keep many of the technical aspects of the school intact while insuring job security and pay equalization for CRTI instructors.
"In the past, I've gone to battle for the students, but with this, I'm also going to battle for our teachers. There are still a lot of things which will have to be hammered out, but if this is going to be done, I'd like to be able to make sure that our people have an opportunity and the job security that they deserve. This bill would also keep the boards of both places intact and would provide provisions in the future as terms come up. In the past, they've always wanted to just add us on with no concerns for our board and it was really more like a hostile takeover," Lieblong said.
Lieblong told board members that he hopes to pattern a bill after a potential bill that may be used to merge Garland Community College and Quapaw Technical Institute in Hot Springs into one entity.
Another suggestion Lieblong made to the board was that if the two schools merge, each current president should become a vice president and a president should be hired with both technical and educational experience.
"I still have some issues with the bill they have drawn up, but so far it's the fairest way to do this that I've seen. I think that it's funny that the two institutes they went after in 2000, are the last two standing. I only wish some of the others that have merged would have waited until this was drawn up," he said.
Lieblong also voiced a concern for students in technical institutes. "There seems to be a second class mentality when it comes to discussing technical students, and I think that's interesting because we put our lives in their hands on a daily basis, just like we do with doctors. Everyone wants to make this push for higher education, but if college was for everyone, then we would have a bunch of empty classrooms and we don't."
In other business, CRTI took a recent budget hit of over $40,000 from the state. According to Lieblong, the cut was one of the largest in recent history.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
A $1 million payment to St. Francis County took a step forward Thursday when the St. Francis County Indigent Care Board met to discuss recent legal filings to clear the way for funds to be transferred.
Board members had the opportunity yesterday morning to question St. Francis County Attorney Fletcher Long and Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City attorney Phil Hicky over the lawsuit filed recently against the board.
According to Indigent Care Board attorney Brad Beavers, the lawsuit will allow the rules of the Indigent Care Trust to be amended to allow board members to approve the $1 million payment if a judge approves the measure. Beavers told board members that he had two primary concerns related to the suit insuring that any order to amend the trust would not defeat the purpose of the trust and that the court order protected individual board members from liability.
"I just wanted to make sure that the order would not defeat the initial purpose of the trust, which was to provide care to the indigent citizens of St. Francis County, and this will not defeat that purpose. Baptist has made a commitment to honor the interest on the $1 million, even though the million won't actually be there," Beavers said.
Board member Gwendolyn Williams questioned the clarity of the court order and whether it would in fact be used to help the indigent. "The way this is written up, we have no way of knowing what the funds are going to be used for, and I think that should be written out more specifically in the court order."
"Right now, you've got $3 million in Trust, and Baptist gets 85 percent of that and St. Francis County gets nothing. If the court approves this, then that is all that will change. We're here not because Baptist wants to grab $1 million and take it back to Memphis. This trust was established to benefit the indigent citizens of St. Francis County, and right now, the county needs cash to do things in other areas of the county. This will allow both of those to happen," said Long.
According to Beavers, once the funds are transferred, the responsibility of the board is taken care of.
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco told board members that the much needed money would be used to help all of St. Francis County. "This funding will go into the county general account and will be used to help not only the indigent in St. Francis County, but all the citizens of St. Francis County. I'm sure the court will earmark some of the money to go directly to the needy, but as a whole, the funds will be used to better our county overall."
Board members also requested a change in the wording of a section in the lawsuit that would have allowed BMH-FC officials to nominate future members to the Indigent Care Board with input from the county judge. Currently, nominations come directly from the county judge.
"I just don't like the fact that this change is in here. I don't see why the way we're nominated should change. This is not a Baptist Hospital board, but a St. Francis County board and I think that the decision should continue to come from the judge," Williams said.
Board members also agreed to pay the county at a rate of $200,000 per quarter for five quarters if the judge agrees to the measure. The board will reconvene Tuesday, to review the final draft from BMH and SFC attorneys.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
Defense testimony was to continue today in a trial in which a mother accuses a doctor, a nurse and Baptist Memorial Hospital-Forrest City of medical malpractice in the death of a child.
In sometimes tearful testimony Thursday, the child's mother, Anita Billups, said she did not believe her child, Stephon Earl Billups was examined properly or diagnosed correctly when she brought him to the emergency room in 1995.
A defendant, John Hill, M.D., said the ailment which killed the child was not recognizable in its early stages.
Also listed as a defendant is ECS, Inc., a company which provides physicians to hospital emergency rooms.
The suit claims that on Dec. 3, 1995, Billups brought the 13-day-old Stephon to the emergency room at Baptist Memorial Hospital, and said the infant felt hot, was foaming at the mouth and feeding poorly. The infant was examined by Hill, who determined that the child was not sick.
The suit further claims that Billups was told to purchase a thermometer, and to give the child Tylenol and Pedialyte with no instructions on amounts or when to give the medicines, or how to use a rectal thermometer.
The suit claims that Billups brought the child back to the emergency room the following day, and the child's vital signs were abnormal. Stephon was transported to Arkansas Children's Hospital, where he died on Dec. 6.
Billups testified that she felt intimidated in the emergency room atmosphere. She also testified that she did not feel her child had been taken care of properly. Also when asked, she talked about the loss of her child.
"There's not a day goes by I think about him all the time," she said. She also said she has nightmares about the incident.
"The loss has made me depressed, like a part of me is missing," she said. "I think about him all the time."
On cross examination, she was asked about a deposition she gave in 1995, in which some of the information she gave was different from the wording of the present lawsuit. She stated that she was afraid and confused.
Later that day, Hill took the stand. He said that when the child came in, it seemed normal.
"You can't recognize that these babies have this problem until it's full blown," Hills said, referring to a particular bacteriological infection. "A baby may not have any symptoms. It's very deceptive."
He said the baby's temperature was normal, his heart, lung and bowel sounds were normal and other examinations he performed showed the child to be in normal health.
"I've listened to nearly 40,000 babies," he said, and later reiterated, "When the child came into the ER the first time, we could not find anything. The child was active when I examined him."
The lawsuit asks for $2 million.
Bids have been awarded for two paving projects in St. Francis County.
The Arkansas Highway Commission this week opened bids for improvements to portions of Highway 284 and County Road 26.
The first project will resurface about two miles of Highway 284 in Forrest City from Highway 1. M&T Paving Construction Company of Forrest City was the low bidder on the project with a bid of $286,856.19.
The second project will see about one mile of County Road 26, located near the airport, surfaced from County Road 338 eastward. M&T Paving was also the apparent low bidder on this project with a bid of $167,635.16.
"Improvements to these roads in St. Francis County will mean safer and easier travel for motorists in the area," SFC Judge Carl Cisco said.
Commission Chairman Buddy Benafield said these projects are funded through the State Aid Division of the Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. This program provides up to $19 million annually from the state motor fuels tax to assist counties with projects of their choosing on the county road system.
The St. Francis County Juvenile Intake offices are moving this weekend and will open Monday at the St. Francis County Courthouse.
The offices are currently located in the Child Support Enforcement Unit on Barton Lane. According to St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco, the move will consolidate juvenile services.
"This will now put the officers in the building right down the hall from the chancery courtroom. This will help the officers in many ways and will be a convenience to everyone involved," Cisco said.
The Juvenile Intake Office will be located in Suite 14 in the hallway behind the chancery courtroom.