Barry M. Straube, MD, director of the Office of Clinical Standards and Quality (OCSQ) and the chief medical officer at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) presented SMH with the Innovator Award for its efforts in enhancing cardiac care for the community. Accepting for SMH was Clint Mickle, SMH Administrator of Cardiovascular Services, Sherry Jensen, SMH Quality and Risk Manager and Stefanie Ballard, SMH Quality and Risk Analyst.

BENTON — Increasing access to cardiac care in Saline County has been a priority of Saline Memorial Hospital’s over the past few years and it continues to be. SMH was recently chosen as a recipient of the 2010 Innovator Award at the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care’s annual Quality Awards program for its efforts to enhance cardiac care for the community.

LITTLE ROCK – Entergy Arkansas, Inc. officials today said that they expect overall residential customer electricity rates to decrease over 10 percent in 2010 even with a requested increase in base rates.

The reduction in electricity rates is the result of a combination of lower fuel costs in 2009 and a sizeable reduction in the amount collected in the line item on customer bills described as “FERC-Imposed Payment.”