GRAVETTE — Three nurses at Ozarks Community Hospital of Gravette were honored recently by being named to a list of top nurses in Northwest Arkansas. The three OCH nurses are Phyllis Burnett, Brian Frihart and Betty Woodall.
Phyllis Burnett graduated from Gravette High School in 1964 and then went to Trenton Junior College in Trenton, Mo., for her registered-nurse training. She has been a nurse for more than 30 years. She is a medical and surgical nurse and is currently serving as nursing supervisor, overseeing nurses throughout the hospital.
Burnett has been with the hospital ever since it opened as Ozarks Community Hospital and was also there when it was Gravette Medical Center.
She was born and raised in the Hiwasse community. She has two sons, three great-grandsons and four great-granddaughters.
Brian Frihart attended Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, Kan., and received his bachelor of science degree in nursing after serving in the U.S. Army as a combat medic. He also obtained his emergency medical technician certification while serving in the Army. He has been an RN for the past 28 years and worked in a variety of positions, including the intensive care and critical care unit, med-surgical, hematology-oncology, nephrology, clinical documentation specialist and as an RN consultant to individuals with developmental disabilities.
Prior to coming to OCH in September, 2014, he worked at Mercy in Joplin for 14 years, Community Support Services in Joplin, Sunshine Children's Home in Carthage, Mo., Freeman-West in Joplin and for McCune Brooks Hospital in Carthage.
Frihart is currently the "working manager" of the OCH emergency room in Gravette and may be the RN caring for a patient who comes in to the ER. He also assists the assistant director of nursing with quality assurance reporting, teaches nursing and certified nurse aide orientation, and telemetry class for arrhythmia recognition and treatment.
"I take the trust my patients place in me to be sacred and a privilege. I will always advocate for my patients no matter what the risk and absolutely love the profession that I've chosen. I basically try to help wherever needed and in any capacity that I can as an RN."
Frihart plays golf as often as possible and considers it his "sport" but says he's afraid those who play with him would call it more of a hobby. He's also an avid reader of books and periodicals. He has three children who live in the area and five grandchildren. His mother also lives in the area, and he is enjoying spending more time with her since he relocated to northwest Arkansas.
Betty Woodall attended college at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College in Kansas, Okla., where she graduated in 1997, receiving a licensed practical nurse certificate. She didn't go to nursing school until she was 45 years old but has been a nurse for 19 years now.
Woodall started out as a hospital nurse at Gravette Medical Center, then went to Mercy Hospital. She has been a clinical instructor for Northwest Technical Institute nursing students for 2½ years and has been Dr. David Tucker's nurse for nine years.
"I do whatever needs to be done," she says, "give shots, do refills for meds and lots of paperwork. I have been with OCH for five years."
Woodall is married and has four children, four stepchildren, 23 grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. She says she loves her family and enjoys spending time with them.
"I also love being a nurse and helping others," she said.
General News on 07/13/2016