Nurse from Gravette helps open Marshallese clinic

GRAVETTE — A nurse, whose roots are from Gravette, has played an important role in the opening of a new outreach clinic for the Marshallese community in Springdale.

Sandy Hainline-Williams, a graduate of Gravette High School, the daughter of the late Dr. Richard and Margie Rhine, longtime Gravette residents, has spent almost 10 years in an outreach program to the Marshallese and Hispanic people in Washington County, combating tuberculosis and communicable diseases.

While serving with theWashington County branch of the Arkansas Department of Health, her efforts and those of others resulted in the opening of the new clinic earlier this month. One of its primary purposes is to serve an estimated 4,000 Marshallese residents.

The clinic is located at 614 East Emma Avenue and is open to any Arkansas resident. Because its foremost function is to serve the Marshallese, at least three persons on the staff are fluent in the Marshallese language.

The new facility is named the Dr. Joseph Bates Outreach Clinic. Bates is a deputy state health officer andhe was present when the surprise announcement of his honor was made by Hainline-Williams.

Among others present was Jurelang Zedkaia, president of the Marshall Islands, who came to the United States from the South Pacific to attend the clinic grand opening.

Bates told the crowd gathered that many others, including former Senator Blanche Lincoln, worked to make the clinic a possibility. He singled out “Sandy Hainline - that’s an angel,” he declared.

A recent story in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette also paid tribute to Sandy: “As the Washington Countyfront-line nurse, her job was (and is) to reach out to those from cultures where Western medicine was not familiar; where seeking out medical care was rare and the ability to travel to (a clinic in) Fayetteville for care was lacking.”

The article mentioned Sandy’s many years of service: “She began devoting two to three days of her week to house calls, mainly addressing and treating communicable diseases. The only registered nurse on her team, she is assigned most of the medication deliveries, transported patients to medical appointments and helped in filling out medical forms inEnglish,” the article noted.

The Marshallese president told the crowd gathered at the ceremony that the clinic is a sensitive approach to helping his people. “I and the people of the Republic of the Marshall Islands are extremely grateful.”

The 1,200 square-foot clinic was made possible through a $237,000 grant from the federal Health Resources and Services grant from the federal Health Resources and Services Administration. The clinic contains a waiting room, two examination rooms, clerical area and an expanded space for the outreach team’s use.