Arkansas
Northwest Arkansas Healthcare Struggles to Keep Pace with Population Growth
NorthWest Arkansas Community College has expanded its nursing program to help keep pace with the growing demand in northwest Arkansas. (Provided)
Health care officials say the strain on northwest Arkansas’ workforce is improving, but the area’s continuing growth will keep the demand for medical workers from slowing down any time soon.
Northwest Arkansas, made up primarily of Washington and Benton counties, surpassed 560,000 in population in 2022 and is expected to approach 1 million by 2045. All those citizens need medical care in one form or another, and the health care industry can’t keep pace.
There are more than 1,200 reported openings for health care practitioners, including physicians and nurses or technicians, in northwest Arkansas. There are another 1,500 openings for health care support positions.
“We are better than we were last year, overall,” said Ryan Cork, the vice chancellor for the northwest Arkansas region at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. “The challenge is a good and bad challenge to have. We are constantly growing so that means our health care workforce has to be able to sustain at that same rate. Our growth rate is surpassing our staffing.”
The personnel needs run the gamut, from the front-desk receptionist at a walk-in clinic to the brain surgeon in the hospital operating room. Nurses are in particularly high demand, with 352 openings for a registered nurse and 152 for a licensed practical nurse.
The medical community has been united in its response. NorthWest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville has significantly expanded its nursing program in recent years and now can accommodate more than 200 nursing students in various programs annually. Other medical and academic institutions have expanded programs to increase the workforce pipeline.
“It is really moving,” said Carla Boyd, NWACC’s director of nursing. “We know that nursing is needed, so we have expanded to make sure we can meet those requirements.”
Long-Term Fix
Many of the initiatives undertaken in northwest Arkansas may take some time to see their full effect, such as increasing the number of residencies for physicians or the opening of the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine in Bentonville.
In the short term, hospitals and clinics — as well as assisted living facilities, public schools and a host of other places that require medical personnel — manage the best they can. Mercy Hospital in Rogers has added more than 50 physicians and 75 nurse practitioners, cause for guarded optimism.
“We have been actively and aggressively recruiting, particularly in northwest Arkansas because it is hard enough to just keep up with the population growth,” said Scotty Cooper, Mercy’s regional physician executive. “Word has gotten out and the attraction of the area has worked in our favor. I hesitate to say that without knocking on wood.
“I don’t want to sound complacent because I’m not; it’s going to continue to be a challenge as long as the population continues to grow. We have had a certain amount of success in northwest Arkansas. It’s a dynamic situation.”
Cooper said some specialties are harder to fill than others, with the demand for neurologists and rheumatologists almost impossible to keep pace with, for example. Cork said the goal is to keep access times to less than 30 days, meaning if someone wants to make an appointment with an oncologist, he or she can get in to see one within that time.
The access stress has led to medical out-migration to the tune of almost $1 billion annually in the past for northwest Arkansas, as people seek services elsewhere. The nonprofit Northwest Arkansas Council will release its 2024 health care report in November and those numbers are expected to have improved.
“A lot of those activities are going to take a lot longer before we see significant impact,” Council CEO Nelson Peacock said. “We need lots of RNs, medical techs and CT scans and imagers. Pretty much if it is working in health care, we need more of it. We are really catching up and getting up to speed. There is a lot of work that needs to be done.
Arkansas
Report: Boise State transfer receiver Chris Marshall signs with Arkansas football | Whole Hog Sports
Kentucky had a need at wide receiver entering the only transfer portal window of the offseason. The Wildcats addressed the position again on Day 10. UK has added a second transfer to the room. This is a familiar name to those who follow recruiting.
Arkansas transfer Ja’Kayden Ferguson committed to the Wildcats after his visit to Lexington over the weekend. The wide receiver was a former UK commit who flipped to the Hogs during the 2025 recruiting cycle. Now Ferguson has flipped back to the Big Blue.
Ja’Kayden Ferguson was a three-star recruit out of Metro Houston who picked Kentucky following a June official visit ahead of the 2024 season. However, Ferguson decided to open up his recruitment five months later and flipped to Arkansas. The 6-foot-2 receiver appeared in six games for the Razorbacks as a true freshman and burned his redshirt. Ferguson played just 20 offensive snaps.
The SEC transfer becomes the eighth current full-time scholarship player in Kentucky’s current wide receivers room. Some more additions are expected.
Kentucky transfer commits
| Player | Position | High School | Former School | Year |
| Olaus Alinen | G/T (6-6, 322) | Windson (Conn.) The Loomis Chaffee School | Alabama | Redshirt Junior |
| Jesse Anderson | S (6-0, 180) | Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons | Pittsburgh | Redshirt Junior |
| Max Anderson | iOL (6-5, 311) | Frisco (Texas) High | Tennessee | Redshirt Sophomore |
| Elijah “Bo” Barnes | LB (6-1, 244) | Dallas (Texas) Skyline | Texas | Redshirt Freshman |
| Jovantae Barnes | RB (6-0, 211) | Las Vegas (Nev.) Desert Pines | Oklahoma | Redshirt Senior |
| Ahmad Breaux | iDL (6-3, 278) | Ruston (La.) High | LSU | Junior |
| Jordan Castell | S (6-2, 213) | Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange | Florida | Senior |
| Xavier Daisy | WR (6-3, 210) | Norcross (Ga.) Greater Atlanta Christian School | UAB | Junior |
| Ja’Kayden Ferguson | WR (6-2, 187) | Missouri City (Texas) Thurgood Marshall | Arkansas | Sophomore |
| Aaron Gates | Nickel (6-0, 198) | Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian | Florida | Redshirt Junior |
| Jamarrion Harkless | iDL (6-3, 315) | Lexington (Ky.) Frederick Douglass | Purdue | Redshirt Junior |
| Lance Heard | T (6-6, 330) | Monroe (La.) Neville | LSU | Tennessee | Senior |
| Mark Manfred III | CB (6-1, 175) | Marietta (Ga.) Sprayberry | Missouri | Redshirt Freshman |
| Kenny Minchey | QB (6-2, 208) | Hendersonville (Tenn.) Pope John Paul II | Notre Dame | Redshirt Junior |
| Antonio O’Berry | EDGE (6-6, 240) | Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne | Tiffin (D-II) | Gardner-Webb | 6th-Year Senior |
| Coleton Price | iOL (6-3, 318) | Bowie (Texas) High | Baylor | Redshirt Senior |
| Spencer Radnoti | LS (6-3, 230) | Canton (Ga.) Cherokee | Georgia State | Redshirt Sophomore |
| Cyrus Reyes | S (6-1, 200) | Taylor (Texas) High | Mississippi State | Junior |
| Hasaan Sykes | CB (6-0, 185) | Tuckert (Ga.) High | Western Carolina | Junior |
| Tavion Wallace | LB (6-1, 239) | Baxley (Ga.) Appling County | Arkansas | Sophomore |
| Dominic Wiseman | iDL (6-2, 300) | Davenport (Iowa) High | South Alabama | Redshirt Senior |
| Adam Zouagui | K (5-11, 188) | Herndon (Va.) High | Davidson | South Florida | Senior |
Arkansas
No. 20 Lady Vols Basketball vs. Arkansas: How to Watch, Prediction, More | Rocky Top Insider
Lady Vols basketball is back in Knoxville for a matchup with Arkansas after a two-game road stand. Tennessee is not only looking to stay perfect in SEC play, but is hosting its annual ‘We Back Pat’ game.
Here’s everything to know about the matchup, from broadcast details to a prediction.
More From RTI: Everything Lady Vols HC Kim Caldwell, PG Mia Pauldo Said After Road Win At Mississippi State
How to Watch — No. 20 Lady Vols (11-3, 3-0 SEC) vs. Arkansas (11-7, 0-3 SEC)
- Start Time: 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT
- Location: Food City Center (Knoxville, Tenn.)
- Watch: SECN+ | PxP: Andy Brock, Analyst: Kamera Harris
- Online Streaming: Watch ESPN
- Radio (Knoxville): The Vol Network/The Vol Network App
- Vol Network radio crew: PxP: Brian Rice, Studio Host: Jay Lifford
Betting Odds
None listed yet
ESPN Matchup Predictor
Lady Vols – 98.3%
Arkansas – 1.7%
What Kim Caldwell Said After Mississippi State
“Good to get a win on the road. We know it’s a tough environment and we know that we got to win on the road in the SEC. It was good to do that. I wasn’t really proud of the rebounding, but I thought we looked a lot better in a couple different categories so that was good.”
Last Five Games
Lady Vols:
- at Mississippi State, 90-90 W
- at Auburn, 73-56 W
- vs. Florida, 76-65 W
- vs. Southern Indiana, 89-44 W
- vs. Louisville (Brooklyn), 89-65 L
Arkansas:
- vs. South Carolina, 93-58 L
- at Alabama, 77-48 L
- vs. Vanderbilt, 88-71 L
- vs. Arkansas State, 81-72 L
- vs. Stephen F. Austin, 82-73 W
Where They Land In Rankings
Lady Vols:
AP Poll – No. 20
Coaches Poll – No. 22
Bart Torvik – No. 13
Arkansas:
AP Poll – Unranked
Coaches Poll – Unranked
Bart Torvik – No. 107
Stat Leaders
Lady Vols:
- Points: Talaysia Cooper – 14.9
- Rebounds: Zee Spearman – 7.3
- Assists: Talaysia Cooper – 4.3
Arkansas:
- Points: Taleyah Jones – 16.9
- Rebounds: Bonnie Deas – 9.7
- Assists: Bonnie Deas – 2.6
Prediction
It’s been a rough start for Arkansas’ new coach, Kelsi Musick. The team is 0-3 in SEC games, and though it’s been against three good teams, the Razorbacks haven’t been competitive in any.
While neither side has been strong, Arkansas’ defense has been the weakest point. Not only is it coming off a game in which it gave up 93 points to South Carolina, but Arkansas State hung 81 in its win over the Razorbacks on the road.
If the Lady Vols don’t get in their own way, then they should be fine. It hasn’t been perfect, and against three teams not necessarily in the mix to win the league, but Tennessee has looked much improved in the SEC slate compared to the lumps it took in the out-of-conference schedule.
I’d think UT jumps on Arkansas in the first quarter and takes a comfortable lead into the second quarter. From there, the lead should continue to grow behind forced turnovers in the press and easy baskets on the other end.
Lady Vols 85, Arkansas 61
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