River Valley Christian Clinic Founder Honored by State Medical Society
Mike Miller, one of the initial founders of the River Valley Christian Clinic, recently received the Arkansas Medical Society’s Shuffield award, considered the highest honor in the medical community for a non physician. The award recognizes an Arkansan who has done outstanding community work in the health care field and is named in memory of Drs. Joe and Elvin Shuffield, a father-son physician team who devoted their lives to improving the quality of health care in this state.
In addition to being an integral part of the River Valley Christian Clinic, Miller is also a former president of the Russellville Jaycees, Former Chairman of the Board of the Russellville Chamber of Commerce, a present member of the Board of Directors for First State Bank of Russellville, Arkansas Tech University (ATU) Advisory Board and the ATU Foundation. He is also a member of the ATU Finance Committee and a charter member of Arkansas Builder’s Association.
Miller graciously accepted the award by thanking his family and his colleagues. “As you might expect, I’m a very small cog in what goes on at the River Valley Christian Clinic, and I’m just so pleased to be a part of that. Exciting things are happening there, and I thank you for sharing this honor with me and with others there.”
In special recognition of Miller, his son, Leo Day, Dean of the School of Church Music at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, offered the crowd two tributes in song. Day said that when he was contacted about his father getting the award, he knew that he would move heaven and earth to be at the luncheon with him. Before singing the hymn, “He Leadeth Me” he said, “This is one of those days that we as a family would not miss. Psalm 37, verse 23 says, ‘The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord,’ and I’m so glad, Papa Mike, that you know the Lord and that he has led you to this very day, this very moment.”
The Arkansas Medical Society is a voluntary professional association, established in 1875, representing more than 4,300 physicians and medical students as well as the patients and communities they serve. Some of the society’s most recent advocacy efforts include supporting extending private health insurance coverage to working families earning below 138% of the federal poverty level, advocating for responsible and practical reforms such as patient-centered medical homes and establishing a prescription drug monitoring program to combat abuse and diversion of prescription drugs. Other significant advances for Arkansas patients and physicians supported by AMS include establishing a statewide trauma system and passage of the Clean Indoor Air Act.”