Partners in patient care

Drs. Kevin Barnett (’13) and Preston Pugh (’13) are leading the way for neonatal care in White County. They met as sophomores in organic chemistry at Harding and walked together through the next 15 years of medical school at University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, residency at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and now as neonatologists at Unity Health-White County Medical Center. Chief residents in pediatrics, they have always been at the top of their class and have brought their experience and expertise home to Searcy. 

Barnett and Pugh led the team that opened a neonatal intensive care unit at Unity Health in July. Serving mothers and newborns, the NICU provides space for preterm or sick babies to receive care in the same hospital as their mothers. 

“As neonatologists and pediatricians, we are in a unique position to take care of both well term infants and vulnerable preterm newborns,” Pugh said. “We have the opportunity to provide critical care while watching these infants grow and develop and allowing families to stay close to home.”

In the competitive world of medical training with limited opportunities for only the highest achievers, Barnett and Pugh have maintained a strong friendship based on trust in God’s timing and direction. 

“I view Preston much more as a brother than I do a friend or a coworker,” Barnett said. “We obviously spend a lot of time talking about work and how to best serve our patients, but we also spend time talking about how to be better Christians, husbands and fathers and how to navigate life’s challenges. We’ve always had each other’s best interest at heart and knew that whatever God had planned is what was supposed to happen.”

The Unity NICU is a level 2 unit which provides care for babies born at 30 weeks or more. Their long term goal is to transition to a level 3 NICU to serve more complicated cases and allow even more White County residents to receive critical care in their own community. 

“Community is everything,” Barnett said. “By providing NICU services and care to our local community, we can support and uplift all families in Searcy and the surrounding area. From the beginning, we have felt that caring for these babies was a calling, and we are so thankful that this calling led us back home to Searcy.” 

Learn more about the department of chemistry and biochemistry at harding.edu/arts-sciences/chem-biochem or schedule a campus visit at harding.edu/visit.