RISON - Beginning this week, the Rison Clinic of Mainline Health Systems will welcome a new addition with Dr. John Austin Beatty joining the staff full-time.
Dr. Beatty joins renowned Dr. Kimberly Golden, who was named 2024 Best Medical General Practitioner by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, at the clinic as a second provider.
“It is with grateful hearts we are honored to have Dr. Beatty join our Rison Clinic,” said Dr. Golden. “We look forward to a long-time commitment to our patients and community. We are happy to have him join us.”
For Dr. Beatty, the feeling is mutual after filling in at Mainline’s clinic periodically since the beginning of the year.
He has previously worked for Mainline’s Warren clinics since 2023. His move to Rison marks the first time two doctors have seen patients in town from one clinic.
In this week’s episode of the Free Range Conversations podcast, the new doctor calls in with hosts Britt Talent, Roy Phillips and Douglas Boultinghouse to share what he looks forward to about settling in Rison.
Dr. Beatty said he actually volunteered to come to Rison because he wanted to work with Dr. Golden.
“Just the past couple of months, I've been able to watch Dr. Golden in her work and what she does, and she just cares so deeply about about every person that comes in, and what she's doing and how she follows up with them,” he said. “That's inspiring and that's somebody that I most certainly would want to work with.”
Dr. Beatty said as a new doctor who graduated four years ago, he is eager to learn from someone who has decades of experience under their belt.
"It's really important to me that I get to practice with somebody who has more experience than I do," he said. "Even with education the way that it is right now, there's some things that 20 and 30 and 40 years worth of experience that there's just no comparison."
Dr. Beatty attended medical school at the University of Arkansas of Medical Sciences and graduated from the In His Image Family Medicine Residency Program in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 2021 with a special focus in mental health.
No stranger to Southeast Arkansas, Dr. Beatty grew up in McGehee and earned his undergraduate degrees locally at the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
During the podcast he shared a story of how attending regular appointments with his great-grandmother and their family physician Dr. Young in McGehee inspired him as a teenager to follow a career in medicine.
That experience his grandmother’s dementia taught him the importance of a family doctor, especially in a small community.
“Interacting with somebody that knew our family over the long run, that we were able to have that trust that was built that we could be able to talk to about what dementia means,” he said. “Dr. Young had that sort of conversation with my family that made me want to do what he does.”
Hoping to fill that role for the people of Rison, Dr. Beatty said he is already impressed by the people he has seen just from working in the clinic part-time.
While he does treat everyday issues like hypertension and diabetes, he also is eager to bring his expertise on mental health and nutrition.
During his medical studies, he put emphasis on counseling services, addressing anxiety, depression, bipolar and schizophrenia.
“I enjoy talking with people about those things,” he said. “And the need it most certainly here.”
Dr. Beatty said there is a greater need for mental health services in Southeast Arkansas, but not enough providers, so he is eager to bring that to Rison through Mainline.
During the podcast, he describes an average day in a small-town clinic that consists of treating high blood pressure, seeing new babies, and procedures that include injections into joints and skin lesion removals. Sometimes more urgent matters arrive, such as a patient who accidentally picked up a superglue bottle instead of their glaucoma medication.
Most frequently, Dr. Beatty said they treat hypertension, diabetes and lower back pain, three things diet plays an important part in managing.
He shares his thoughts on diets and nutrition, and his experience trying every diet out there. What he found, and what he teaches patients, is that a balanced diet higher in protein and fiber, lower in salt and with other foods in moderation is what works.
The full epsiode with Dr. Beatty is available to stream on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and ClevelandCountyHerald.com
Mainline Health Systems’ Rison Clinic with both Dr. Golden and Dr. Beatty is located at 505 Sycamore Street in Rison. The clinic is open Monday-Thursday from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 12 noon.
To schedule an appointment, call (870) 325-6255 or visit mainlinehealth.net