Launch: White River Health System

Published Tuesday April 18, 2006 in the Batesville Guard

To better serve its patients and to make medical information more accessible to the region, White River Health System launched a new Web site, www.whiteriverhealthsystem.com, today.
According to hospital officials, health care consumers use the resources of the Internet for information about specific health conditions and for advice on healthy lifestyle choices. The totally redesigned site incorporates all the facilities and services of WRHS in one convenient location with a universal resource locator name that better describes the organization. New information and updates are posted to the site daily.

“We wanted the community to be able to research the services offered by our system and access health education and community links all at one site,” said Rachael Fisher, Web site manager. “The page with photos of new babies is one of the most popular features of any hospital Web site. We are confident that parents, families and friends of babies born at WRMC (White River Medical Center) will be pleased with the new look on this page.”

E-mail addresses of hospital staff will not change.

WRHS partnered with Pleth, LLC, a local Web hosting firm six months ago to begin the redesign process. WRHS retained the services of a professional web hosting firm to increase traffic and improve the navigational quality of the site. Features of the new site include a site search engine where individuals can locate health care services, facility specific information, physician office information and more.

A calendar of events will feature happenings within the health system such as childbirth education, seminars and health screenings. Facility specific information is available for all WRHS divisions, White River Medical Center, Stone County Medical Center, rural health clinics and long term care.

“The new Web site is a great resource for our patients,” said Larry Sandage, WRHS director of institutional advancement. “We’ve created a better way to manage our Web site information with Pleth responsible for the technical elements and Rachael as our internal content manager.”
Additional online services are under consideration to further improve the Web site, such as an online health information encyclopedia. Further announcements will be made as those services become available.

WRHS includes two hospitals, seven medical clinics, physician offices, three outpatient therapy centers, three nursing homes, two residential care facilities, two home health agencies, hospice, and a home medical equipment company.

Links, such as Batesville Area Chamber of Commerce and Arkansas Children’s Hospital, are provided to assist individuals searching for information about the community. Organizations interested in links to the WRHS Web site and individuals who want more information may contact Fisher at rfisher@wrmc.com or 262-1225.