Children's Hospitals Today - Fall 2024 - 7

FIRST PERSON / ROUNDS
Becoming a difference maker
A nurse's quest to improve social drivers of health in her hometown.
BY STEPHANIE WHITE, RN
I
'll admit it-I wear people out. But my
enthusiasm stems from a passion to
improve my slice of the world.
I've worked as a nurse at Arkansas
Children's for 27 years. During that
time, I've witnessed the important role
children's environments play in their
health. I also learned how a zip code
could predict a community's social
drivers of health. Those observations
sent me down a path to improve the
environmental and economic conditions
that affect child health outcomes in my
hometown of Keo, Arkansas.
While filling a vacancy on the city
council in 2018, I dug into issues with
the town's water quality. High iron
levels made our drinking water look
more like orange juice than water. It
was impossible to wash white clothes,
and the town had racked up fines from
state agencies.
After fielding one too many of my
questions, the previous mayor resigned
and challenged me to do better in the
role. I was appointed to fill his vacancy
and got right to work, discovering the
town's water system had broken lines,
poor filtration, and water
meters that hadn't been
read in months. I'm proud
to say with the help of
grant funding, Keo is currently
installing a new
water and wastewater
system that ensures our
community has access to
safe, clean water.
With the water system on the mend,
" I'LL ADMIT IT-
I WEAR
PEOPLE OUT. "
access. After three years of work, we're
about halfway to getting access for the
town's 207 residents. I've been to the
state capitol to lobby for
broadband access, and I'll
go back as often as it takes.
Keo's claims to fame
have always been agriculture
and our beloved
downtown pie shop,
which serves double duty
as my mayoral office. The
I realized we needed more than just
clean water to improve the vitality of
my delta town. I examined other factors
that influence people's health, quality of
life, and well-being-namely broadband
town needed a broader economic footprint
to promote job growth. Since Keo
is nestled among 500 acres of pecan
groves, we built a plan to rebrand the
town as the " pecan capital of Arkansas. "
The inaugural Arkansas Pecan Festival
drew 500 people in 2022 and 2,500 the
As mayor of
Keo, Arkansas,
Stephanie White
holds office hours in
her town's pie shop.
next year. We are also working with academic
institutions to find more revenue
streams for Keo's pecans, such as food
for fish farms.
These steps may seem insignificant,
but as a case management nurse, I've
seen the long-term and acute health
issues caused by a community's nonmedical
factors on children's health. I'm
glad to see Keo becoming a place where
children can thrive throughout their
lives. I'm proud to be a difference maker
both inside and outside the hospital.
Stephanie White, RN, is a nurse at
Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little
Rock and mayor of Keo, Arkansas.
What's on your mind? Email
communications@childrenshospitals.org.
CHILDREN'S HOSPITALS TODAY Fall 2024
7
Photo: John David Pittman
Children's Hospitals Today - Fall 2024

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