ACHI HIRES DIRECTOR OF NORTHWEST ARKANSAS COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

LITTLE ROCK ― The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement announced Tuesday that Stephanie Blevins has joined the center in the newly created position of director of Northwest Arkansas community engagement.

Blevins comes to ACHI from the office of Gov. Asa Hutchinson, where she served as the governor’s Northwest Arkansas district representative.

“Northwest Arkansas is in a state of rapid transformation, with increasing demands on its health and health care sectors,” said ACHI President and CEO Dr. Joe Thompson. “ACHI’s commitment to be a catalyst to improve the health of all Arkansans requires a dedicated presence in this region of the state. I am confident that Stephanie, with her years of experience engaging with community and business leaders in the region, will represent us well.”

Blevins said, “I’m excited to be a part of an organization that has done such amazing work to better the health of Arkansans for almost 25 years. With the explosive growth in the Northwest Arkansas health sector, I feel privileged to be part of the conversation in this part of the state.”

Blevins grew up in Tampa, Fla., and studied economics at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Ga. She has lived in Northwest Arkansas since 1995. Blevins became Hutchinson’s Northwest Arkansas district representative in 2018; in that position she worked closely with business leaders, elected officials, nonprofits and healthcare executives throughout the region. She and her husband, Hershel Blevins, have four grown children.

ACHI has been engaged in supporting the work of the Health Care Transformation Division of the Northwest Arkansas Council. This staffing addition represents a further commitment to support the needs of Northwest Arkansas with nationally recognized data, analytics and policy expertise that ACHI has developed over two decades.

ACHI is a nonpartisan, independent health policy center that serves as a catalyst for improving the health of all Arkansans through evidence-based research, public issue advocacy, and collaborative program development. See more at achi.net.