The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement celebrated its 20th anniversary on Dec. 3 with a program that included a conversation on health and health care between former Arkansas Govs. Mike Huckabee and Mike Beebe.
The Arkansas Center for Health Improvement celebrated its 20th anniversary on Dec. 3 with a program that included a candid, genial conversation on health and health care between former Arkansas Govs. Mike Huckabee and Mike Beebe.
The event at the Statehouse Convention Center, hosted by ACHI in conjunction with the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service, also featured welcoming remarks by Gov. Asa Hutchinson. Former Gov. Jim Guy Tucker was in the audience, so the evening presented a rare opportunity to see four Arkansas governors gathered in one place.
ACHI President and CEO Dr. Joe Thompson moderated the discussion between Huckabee and Beebe, which touched on healthcare milestones in Arkansas such as the Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act, the Clean Indoor Air Act, the Arkansas Healthcare Payment Improvement Initiative, and the state’s innovative, bipartisan approach to Medicaid expansion.
The evening’s activities also included the presentation of Dr. Tom Bruce Arkansas Health Impact Awards to two people who have had a positive impact on the health of Arkansans through their service and leadership, Dr. Kent Westbrook and Ben E. Owens Sr.
Over the past 20 years, the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement’s mission has been to serve as a catalyst to provoke or accelerate significant action or change to improve the health of Arkansans. A nonpartisan, independent health policy center, ACHI has been at the forefront of many of the advances Arkansas has made and remains poised to protect gains and advance new policies that will further its mission.
