Arkansas Children’s Innovation Center Reschedules Healthcare Technology Hackathon

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Jan. 10, 2021) — As the COVID-19 omicron variant surges, Arkansas Children’s Innovation Center is postponing the 48-hour digital health challenge originally scheduled for late January and has set a new date of April 1-3.

The digital health challenge features a $10,000 cash prize. The event, known as a hackathon, is open for applications.

The event is a collaborative effort with Arkansas Children’s, Cartwheel Startup Studio, Conductor, Startup Junkie Consulting, HealthTech Arkansas and the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas. Participants in the competition will work alongside Arkansas Children’s clinicians and administrators to solve real-world pediatric healthcare problems.

The digital health hackathon supports Arkansas Children’s mission to improve the health and well-being of children in Arkansas and beyond.

Applications for participation are now open. Interested parties can apply either as an individual or as part of a team. The application deadline is March 11, 2022. Learn more at https://www.healthtecharkansas.com/news.

ABOUT ARKANSAS CHILDREN’S

Arkansas Children's, Inc. is the only healthcare system in the state solely dedicated to caring for Arkansas' more than 700,000 children. The private, non-profit organization includes two pediatric hospitals, a pediatric research institute and USDA nutrition center, a philanthropic foundation, a nursery alliance, statewide clinics, and many education and outreach programs — all focused on fulfilling a promise to define and deliver unprecedented child health. Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) is a 336-bed, Magnet-recognized facility in Little Rock operating the state’s only Level I pediatric trauma center; the state's only burn center; the state's only Level IV neonatal intensive care unit; the state's only pediatric intensive care unit; the state’s only pediatric surgery program with Level 1 verification from the American College of Surgeons (ACS); the state’s only magnetoencephalography (MEG) system for neurosurgical planning and cutting-edge research; and the state's only nationally recognized pediatric transport program. Additionally, ACH is nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report in four pediatric subspecialties (2021—2022): Cardiology & Heart Surgery, Nephrology, Pulmonology and Urology. ACH is one of only five hospitals in the nation that have achieved Magnet Status, ACS Level 1 verification and a Beacon award from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW), the first and only pediatric hospital in the Northwest Arkansas region, opened in Springdale in early 2018. ACNW operates a 24-bed inpatient unit; a surgical unit with five operating rooms; outpatient clinics offering over 20 subspecialties; diagnostic services; imaging capabilities; occupational therapy services; and Northwest Arkansas' only pediatric emergency department, equipped with 30 exam rooms. Generous philanthropic and volunteer engagement has sustained Arkansas Children's since it began as an orphanage in 1912, and today ensures the system can deliver on its promise of unprecedented child health. To learn more, visit archildrens.org.

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