Baby Sharon Committee Meeting September 22.2026
Committee members present on the zoom call were Richard Emmel, Kelly Dunlap, and Patrick Casey, with Jacob Grummer of the ACH Social Work Department. Committee members absent were Haley Davis and Sarah Owen.
Case 1: This case involves an 11-year-old patient with End Stage Renal Disease after a failed kidney transplant. The patient is on hemodialysis and will remain on dialysis until he receives another transplant. This requires the patient and their caregiver to travel from Southern Arkansas to Little Rock (over 150 miles) for each treatment which lasts at least 3 hours. The family utilizes Medicaid transportation which often makes for a long day. Sometimes they arrive hours before their scheduled “chair time” or do not get home until evening depending on how many other people are being transported. The patient’s caregiver was working 30hrs per week prior to the patient starting dialysis in April of this year. However, the caregiver’s employer could not accommodate the patient’s treatment schedule and since the patient is not old enough to ride the Medicaid transportation on their own, the caregiver must accompany the patient. Over the past few months, the patient has been able to go from 3-times weekly dialysis to weekly. The caregiver is now employed part-time at a new company. However, the family’sfinances have been negatively impacted by the patient’s changing dialysis schedule when caregiver was not able to work, and they fell behind on rent and electrical payments. Unstable housing and a high energy burden are functional barriers to proper kidney care. A lack of stable housing can result in missed treatments, increased chronic stress and potential for severe systemic infections. The lack of reliable electricity can increase the risk of severe hydration, fluid overload, or the inability to refrigerate fresh, low-sodium foods which are part of their renal diet. Therefore, we are submitting for your consideration a request for rent ($910) and electric ($673.98) Total Ask: $1583.98
The committee approved $1583.98 to support electric and rent expenses.
