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07/17/2025

UA-EACC Partners with ARcare to Address Arkansas' LPN Shortage

The University of Arkansas-East Arkansas Community College (UA-EACC) and ARcare are proud to announce a new partnership providing a Practical Nursing (PN) program tailored to upskill ARcare employees.

Created to address the growing shortage of licensed practical nurses (LPNs) in Arkansas, especially in rural communities, the program will offer in-person instruction and clinical simulations training on both the UA-EACC campus and at the ARcare training center in Augusta, which is a satellite site of UA-EACC's highly successful PN program.

Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders has made strengthening rural healthcare a priority for the state.

"The need for good rural healthcare is very real to UA-EACC," said Dr. Cathie Cline, chancellor at UA-EACC. "Our employees and students live here; they will be some of the patients who will receive care from those trained through the ARcare partnership."

UA-EACC's efforts to provide customized educational opportunities to meet community needs and improve specific industry challenges are highlighted by this new program.

"Bringing this LPN program to life has been such a proud moment, not just for me personally, but for ARcare as a whole," said Hannah Altom, ARcare's Associate Director of Nursing Education. "It reflects our mission of 'Health for All' in a new and powerful way."

Unique to the program is the use of ARcare professionals to provide instruction using UA-EACC curriculum, with training and mentorship provided by UA-EACC nursing instructors. Classroom, simulation, and clinical instruction will be provided under the leadership of Altom and Mallory Adams, dean of allied health at UA-EACC.

"This program demonstrates UA-EACC's priority of collaborating with business and industry in a way that works for them. It took over a year of planning with ARcare to rework our curriculum to fit their needs and timeframe," Cline said. "UA-EACC strongly believes that education must work on a business timeline."

With the support of the Arkansas Department of Commerce, Office of Skills Development (OSD), a central feature of the program is an enhanced nursing simulation lab at the Augusta training site. It is equipped with advanced technology to provide students with realistic, hands-on learning experiences.

The new lab complements instruction delivered at UA-EACC's existing state-of-the art simulation lab on its campus. Angie Cross, UA-EACC's simulations instructor, and a graduate of the UA-EACC RN program, will assist with building, monitoring, and evaluating clinical simulations at both locations.

Students enrolled in the program will benefit from the academic rigor of UA-EACC's program, while receiving in-person instruction tailored to the healthcare needs of rural Arkansas.

"ARcare's commitment to quality makes this partnership work well," Cline said. "We share a drive to provide the best in healthcare training and patient experience."

Registered Medial Assistants (RMAs) who are currently employed by ARcare will receive the upskilling training.

"We're not only preparing future nurses to serve our communities, but we're also giving many of our own employees the chance to grow their careers through education," said Altom.  

"Watching them take this next step is incredibly inspiring, and I'm so excited to see the impact they'll make, both in the classroom and in the care they provide."

Cline highlighted the trickle-down benefits that customized training opportunities provide.

"This program is an amazing opportunity for workers currently on-the-job," Cline said. "It reduces time away from their families and will significantly improve their wages."

The first cohort had its initial meeting on July 11 at the Augusta training facility. The program, considered a satellite location of UA-EACC's PN program, received official approval from the Arkansas State Board of Nursing on June 5.

"This is a win-win-win: the employer benefits, the employees and students of ARcare benefit, and the patients who will receive care all benefit," Cline said. "This trifecta of success is the impact that community colleges strive to achieve and we're very proud of how all of this came together."

This initiative marks a significant step forward in ARcare's ongoing commitment to "Health for All." According to ARcare, the program will be respectfully acknowledged and honorably recognized as the Sharon Oakes Clinical Advancement Program, which is a meaningful tribute to the legacy of longtime nurse and healthcare leader, Sharon Oakes. The program honors the memory and impact of Oakes, whose decades of service helped shape ARcare's standard of nursing excellence and compassionate patient care.

"Mrs. Sharon was committed to ARcare and to the patients she served," said Lauren Fields, ARcare's Chief Nursing Officer. "Through hard work and determination, she fulfilled her dreams of becoming a nurse and a leader. It is a true honor to witness the launch of this program in her memory. It embodies the values that were important to her: compassion, personal growth, and dedication to the mission."

Founded in 1986, ARcare is a medical network striving to fulfill its "Health for All" mission by specializing in primary care, specialty care, behavioral health, chronic disease care, pharmaceutical care, and insurance. As a Federally Qualified Healthcare Center (FQHC), ARcare is able to care for every patient regardless of their insurance status or ability to pay. ARcare has over 90 locations across Arkansas, Mississippi, and Kentucky, over 260 providers, and more than 1600 employees.

East Arkansas Community College

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