In Memoriam: Suzanne McCarthy, a Trailblazer in Arkansas Public Health

From her enrollment as the first student at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Public Health to her cofounding of ACHI, Suzanne McCarthy was a trailblazer in public health in Arkansas. McCarthy died Dec. 1 in Louisville, Ky., at the age of 75, but her legacy will live on for generations.

“She was not only a colleague for many of us but also a life coach, offering encouragement and divinely inspired advice to everyone here,” said ACHI President and CEO Craig Wilson. “Suzanne recruited me to come to ACHI. She had a knack for drawing out people’s best qualities and knowing how to put people in the best position to succeed.”

A New York native, McCarthy earned a bachelor’s degree from Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, a master’s degree in nursing from Boston University, and a Master of Public Health from the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health at UAMS. She began her career as a registered nurse at Downstate Medical Center, later serving in various consulting and teaching positions at hospitals in Massachusetts and Harrow, England. In Arkansas, she brought her clinical expertise to positions at Doctors Hospital in Little Rock, the YMCA, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Healthsource Arkansas, and UAMS.

In 1998, McCarthy cofounded ACHI as an independent, nonpartisan health policy center that would serve as a catalyst for improving the health of all Arkansans. She served as founding senior associate and director of government relations at ACHI until her retirement in 2019.

During her career at ACHI, McCarthy played a key role in numerous successful efforts to improve the health of Arkansans, including the Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act, which mandates that all proceeds from Arkansas’s share of a 1999 settlement with tobacco companies be distributed to programs that improve the health of Arkansans; the Clean Indoor Air Act, which protects workers and the public from smoke in the workplace and public places; the state’s graduated driver’s licensing system, which requires teens to have some driving experience before obtaining full driving privileges; a tobacco tax increase that funded the creation of a statewide trauma system; the innovative Medicaid expansion program now known as Arkansas Health and Opportunity for Me; and the Arkansas Healthcare Transparency Initiative, which provides a window into healthcare spending in Arkansas.

At an ACHI gathering honoring McCarthy in July of 2019, McCarthy said, “Have we solved all the health inequities in Arkansas? No, not yet. But we’re trying. We have helped to make our systems stronger, more efficient, and better, and that’s worth celebrating tonight, because we all did it together.”

A celebration of life service will be held at 3 p.m. on January 24 at Christ the King Church in Little Rock.