2018 – 2019 Annual Report | UAMS Regional Campuses (2024)

As you review our annual report, we hope you will see the vital role UAMS Regional Campuses play in supporting Arkansas’ healthcare system. Regional Programs is a division of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), operating under the governance of this institution, while representing Arkansas’ Area Health Education Centers (AHEC), a federal program administered under the Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA). The missions of both UAMS and HRSA directly support the healthcare needs of Arkansas. Through eight community-based centers, Regional Programs administers UAMS’ triple missions of clinical care, medical education and research across the state of Arkansas.

Dr. Cam Patterson, our new chancellor, has infused a level of energy, passion and focus into UAMS that is contagious and thought-provoking. With Chancellor Patterson’s vision for expanding UAMS’ medical science research, clinical capabilities and educational programs, we can better meet the current and future health needs of Arkansas. Over this past year, Regional Programs has made significant strides toward improving our internal systems. We realigned our vision and mission with UAMS and have set goals and objectives to support a new governance structure, budget, efficiencies, and a monitoring system for key indicators of best practices. More importantly, our faculty and staff are engaged in the pursuit of excellence in all service domains and are committed to promoting this culture of excellence with every patient, student, resident and person encountered.

Our educational programs continue to excel due to the quality of our physician, pharmacy, nursing and behavioral health faculty, who are all outstanding clinicians and teachers committed to these programs. Over the past five years, 86% of our family medicine program’s graduates have passed their board exam on their first attempt. We offer clinical rotations to medical, pharmacy, nursing and physician assistant students at our family medicine clinics where learners experience first-hand, team-based care, while practicing an interdisciplinary approach to managing chronic disease patients, well-child exams and preventive care. It has been our experience that the more we expose students to this environment, the more likely they are to return to our residency programs and ultimately stay to practice in rural communities across Arkansas.

Our clinics, designed around the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) team-based care model, are equipped with the latest diagnostic tools for supporting a broad spectrum of primary care services. This integrated approach enhances our ability to provide the best clinical care at every patient encounter. With recent upgrades to our electronic health records system, we can access health information on our patients across all locations. These tools will assist our clinical teams with improving patient outcomes in this new era of population health management.

Through our successful CHAMPS and MASH programs for junior high and high school students, as well as college-level offerings, more Arkansas students are being encouraged and prepared to enter health careers. Involving students early and often in these types of educational experiences is paramount to increasing the number of primary care physicians in Arkansas.

UAMS also offers programs to help college students prepare for medical school entrance exams. This combination of early exposure and practical tools assists students in their successful acceptance to medical school. In the last 3 years, 157 students who participated in one or more Regional Programs’ pipeline activities have been enrolled in the UAMS College of Medicine, on average, making up 20%-30% of each class.

Recently, we were awarded a $4.6 million HRSA Medical Student Education grant, which will allow us to greatly enhance efforts to encourage more medical students to pursue primary care in rural and underserved settings. Through Regional Programs, we promote family medicine as the specialty of choice, encouraging medical students to apply for residency training at one of the seven Regional Campuses’ family medicine residency programs. Recruiting these physicians back to one of the Regional Campuses and, ultimately, to remain to practice in their training region will significantly improve and influence health outcomes for all Arkansans far into the future. We are committed to making this happen in Arkansas.

Sterling L. Moore, M.B.A.

Vice Chancellor, UAMS Regional Programs and

Executive Director, Arkansas AHEC Program

This year, we provided training for

• 347 health professions students
• 143 medical residents
• 1,639 high school and college students for structured health career programs, and 23,538 in group presentations/events

• S5: Ensure a diverse workforce to meet the healthcare needs of Arkansans (trainees).
• C1: Reduce health disparities across Arkansas.
• C3: Create a University of Arkansas Health System.
• E1: Maximize innovation in the delivery of health professional education.
• E2: Increase postgraduate educational programs.
• E3: Expand health professional programs to meet workforce needs.
• E4: Increase student recruitment and retention.
• P1: Increase partnerships with private entities to expand health care footprint.
• P2: Expand internal/external partnerships to develop collaborative working relationships to support academic programs.
• T2: Build technology infrastructure to support UAMS strategy.
• D1: Leverage UAMS’ status as the digital health leader by becoming a fully deployed digital health institution.
• D2: Transform the UAMS patient and partner experience by offering digital health options.
• D3: Raise digital health awareness across the state.
• D4/D5: Train UAMS’ current and future health care providers, residents and students to incorporate digital health into their routine clinical services.

UAMS 2029 Vision

UAMS Northeast hosted a community event and reception to celebrate 40 years of service in Northeast Arkansas. More than 100 former family medicine residents, local officials and staff joined the celebration. Local officials such as the Mayor, State Legislators, various dignitaries and community partners also joined us for the festivities. Vice Chancellor Sterling Moore described Regional Programs as a long-term “pipeline” for recruitment of health professionals that is invaluable to educating doctors from Arkansas and in Arkansas, and illustrates why starting educational activities in high school is paramount to reducing Arkansas’ shortage of rural physicians. The community event for patients and the public also included health screenings, health education and food, and a teddy bear clinic and story-time reading for children. The UAMS Chancellor praised the success of UAMS Northeast in retaining physicians for Arkansas.

I want to call your attention to something I find really amazing. Of the 200 graduates of the UAMS Northeast Residency Program, 160 have remained in Arkansas, and 55% have stayed in the northeast region!

UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, MD

The Rural Health Summit initiative expanded significantly this year, with a Student Summit on Rural Health in November 2018, bringing together 51 medical students from all three Arkansas medical schools (UAMS, ARCOM, and NYIT). In March, the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute on Petit Jean Mountain hosted the third Rural Health Summit.

Two important outcomes of these summits were receipt of a HRSA Rural Health Network Planning Grant award by the coalition, which will lay the groundwork for establishment of in Arkansas Rural Health Association, as well as creation of a student/parent/ counselor directory and guide to available health career preparation programs across the state.

Just before this report went to press, we received notice that UAMS Regional Programs has been awarded a $4.66 million 4-year grant that will allow us to strengthen multiple efforts to recruit and retain more primary care physicians for rural and underserved areas of Arkansas. The Arkansas Medical Education Primary Care Partnerships (AR MEd-PCP) is a collaborative project of the UAMS College of Medicine, Regional Programs, the Department of Family & Preventive Medicine (DFPM). Christopher Westfall, MD, Dean of the College of Medicine, is project director. Co-directors are Marcia Byers, RN, Ph.D., Regional Programs Director of Clinical Innovation, Daniel Knight, MD, DFPM Chair, and Leslie Stone, MD, DFPM Director of Medical Student Education. This grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) funds a multipronged approach to:

• Strengthen the long-term health careers pipeline by recruiting and retaining more students from rural and underserved areas of the state, because such students are the most likely to return to practice in those areas.
• Create more opportunities for medical students to experience practice in rural and underserved communities across Arkansas through service projects, mentoring, and a new Honors Track in Rural Primary Care.
• Increase the number of rural clinical rotation sites and preceptors available to teach medical students in federally qualified health centers, critical access hospitals and other rural clinics and settings.
• Provide training and faculty development for clinical faculty and preceptors at these new clinical sites.
• Strengthen partnerships with Community Health Centers of Arkansas, Arkansas Rural Health Partnership, and HBCUs at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and Philander Smith College in Little Rock.

Dr. Mark Jansen, Chief Medical Officer for Regional Programs since 2016, accepted a new opportunity as Chief Medical Officer for Arkansas Blue Cross Blue Shield. We will miss Dr. Jansen’s leadership on rural health care initiatives and his willingness to work collaboratively with diverse colleagues and partners to help those who need it most. Dr. Jansen anticipates a continued joint effort, toward betterment of providers and patients across the state, with emphasis on rural areas, and we know that he will have an even larger platform to positively impact health of all Arkansans

Russell Mayo, MD, Associate Professor and Residency Director at UAMS Southwest, has agreed to serve as Interim Chief Medical Officer for REP. Dr. Mayo completed his Family Medicine Residency at UAMS South in El Dorado in 1986, and practiced at Glenwood Medical Center in Texarkana, Texas. In 1993, he joined the UAMS Southwest faculty where he helped launch the UAMS Southwest family medicine residency program, serving as program director since 2000.

Jay Battle, MHSA,joined Regional Programs this year as Associate Vice Chancellor and COO to oversee and direct administrative functions related to non-medical activities of the division, including operations of REP Family Medicine Clinics. Jay completed his Masters in Health Services Administration at UA Little Rock, previously serving as Director of Finance & Operations Management/Service Line Administrator for UAMS, as the CEO of the Arkansas State Hospital in Little Rock, and also worked at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System.

Mark Deal, MBA, has been named Regional Executive-Southern Region, to oversee Helena, Pine Bluff, Magnolia and Texarkana. Mark served as COO/CFO of Bradley County Medical Center and CEO of Delta Memorial Hospital Association before becoming the Pine Bluff Director in 2013.

Ron Cole, MBA, FACMPE, has been named Regional Executive-Northern Region, overseeing Fayetteville/Springdale, Fort Smith, Batesville and Jonesboro. Ron began his UAMS career in 1980 as the first Business Manager in Jonesboro, and has been Center Director since 2008. Ron’s new base of operations will be Fayetteville.

Becky Hall, Ed.D, has been named Senior Director for Regional Programs, and charged with helping to improve the patient experience and employee engagement in all of the Regional Centers. Becky has been the Center Director at UAMS East for 26 years.

Katherine Irish-Clardy, MD, Chair of the REP GMEC is Executive Sponsor for Resident & Program Education, to oversee compliance with ACGME and ABFM and to maintain balance between service and education. She completed her residency at UAMS West and served as CMO for Sparks Regional beforereturning to UAMS West as faculty in 2005, as Residency Director since 2014.

Career Employees

We gratefully acknowledge the faithful dedication of these faculty and staff for their long-term service to UAMS:

45 Years: Linda McGhee, MD (NW)

40 Years: Elizabeth Bausinger (NW)

35 Years: Mark Attwood, MD (SC)

30 Years: Janice Huddleston (NW), Shirley Herron (SC)

25 Years: Phyllis Louther (SC), Stephanie Loveless (E), Lilly Roberts (NC), Elaine Gillespie (NE), Jackie Terry (NW), Brenda Morris (W)

20 Years: Brenda Tharp (SC), Ashley Harden (E), Ollie White (E), Kelly Chaplain (NE), Catherine Smith (W), Sheila Pulice (W)

UAMS Southwest Faculty Installed as President of ARAFP

Matthew Nix, M.D., UAMS Southwest faculty in Texarkana, was installed as the 73rd President of the Arkansas Academy of Family Physicians (ARAFP). He is a Texarkana native who graduated from Arkansas High and the University of Central Arkansas, before earning his M.D. from UAMS in 2003. Dr Nix completed his Family Medicine Residency at UAMS Southwest, and practiced in Ashdown before returning in 2010 to become faculty. He has served as Medical Director since 2014 and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2017. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and a Diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine. A recipient of the “Excellence in Teaching Award” from UAMS Regional Programs in 2017, his academic interests include population health, medical education and practice management. He has published and presented research at the state and national levels and has served in numerous state leadership and advocacy positions, including the Arkansas Early Childhood Commission and the Arkansas Child Health Advisory Committee.

Darrell Over, MD, Medical Director at UAMS South Central, was elected to the Arkansas Medical Society Board of Trustees. As a trustee, Dr. Over will represent Ashley, Chicot, Desha, Drew, Jefferson and Lincoln counties to continue the Medical Society’s mission of improving health care through legislation, education and general support of patients and medical practices.

Jonell Hudson, PharmD, BCPS, CDE, at UAMS Northwest received the American Association of Diabetes Educators Pharmacy Community of Interest, Best Practices in Diabetes Care Award. Dr. Hudson has published research on her work with the Marshallese population, and has demonstrated ability to improve A1c levels by delivering a culturally-competent, family model of diabetes education in the patient’s home, compared with traditional DSME/S.

Marcia Byers, Ph.D., RN, Director of Clinical Innovation and champion for telehealth expansion throughout UAMS Regional Programs, was named one of 36 UAMS Phenomenal Woman for 2019. She secured a $61,000 grant from Lions Clubs of Arkansas and the Lions Club International Foundation to purchase new teleretinal cameras for all of our regional centers. The UAMS Chancellor’s Circle also awarded a $20,000 grant to replace and install these teleretinal screening cameras to increase early detection of vision problems in diabetic patients.

Retirement

Don Heard, EdD, MBA, Center Director at UAMS West retired in January after 32 years of service to UAMS Regional Programs. Don was originally hired as business manager for AHEC Fort Smith (UAMS West) and became Center Director in 2008. Don was instrumental in the growth and success of the UAMS West program and fostered a “family” culture that led to great accomplishments during his tenure. He served as adjunct faculty at John Brown University, was a graduate of Leadership Fort Smith, a graduate of the UCLA / Johnson & Johnson Health Care Executive Program, and a member of the Fort Smith Public Schools “Partner in Education” Program. Don presented at Residency Program Solutions Conferences and at National AHEC Conferences on subjects relevant to health care management and expanding residency training via the Teaching Health Center Program. Under his leadership, UAMS West received the “Best AHEC” award four times. Don was a driving force behind construction of the new 30,000 square foot, state-of-art, UAMS West Family Medical Center which opened in 2017, which currently has 26 family medicine residents in training. During the past two years, Don has been an executive sponsor for Regional Programs, helping to lead our enterprise through reorganization and implementation of a new EHR system. We congratulate Don on his outstanding career with UAMS Regional Programs and wish him the very best.

Telemedicine is expanding quickly and will continue to grow over the next year. The tele-retinal project has been implemented and will be active in all sites in early fall. Four sites are participating in the tele-spine project with Dr. T. Glenn Pait, and all sites will be active by November 2019.

The regional clinics now have updated equipment and software, enhancing our capacity to fully support projects-in-waiting. Finally, our partnership with the new Institute for Digital Health and Innovation has led to a $300,000 agreement to support telemedicine MAs/LPNs. These new resources and capacity will foster the most rapid expansion in digital health delivery opportunities that Regional Programs has seen to date.

This year, 163 UAMS College of Medicine senior students participated in the National Resident Match Program with 72 appointed to an Arkansas residency position; 53% matched to residencies in a primary care specialty (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Ob/Gyn). Regional Programs provided training for 144 residents in 2018-19, including 47 who completed their 3-year residency to become board eligible in Family Medicine. Of these, 55% (26/47) remained in Arkansas to practice. Of those staying in Arkansas, 69% (18/26) remained in their training region, and 39% (10/26) chose a rural or small town practice location.

UAMS now has 64 first-year Family Medicine residency slots available, including 52 at Regional Programs (including 6 at our new program in Batesville), and 6 at the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine in Little Rock. In June 2019, we welcomed the first group of 12 residents at a new joint residency program in North Little Rock, a UAMS and Baptist Health partnership.

814 UAMS Regional Programs’-trained physicians now practice in 126 Arkansas communities*, including 68 of our 75 counties.

Arkansas*

• De Witt (3,292)
• Stuttgart (9,326)

Ashley*

• Crossett (5,507)

Baxter*

• Mountain Home (12,448)

Benton

• Bentonville (35,301)
• Centerton (9,515)
• Decatur (1,699)
• Gentry (3,158)
• Gravette (2,325)
• Lowell (7,327)
• Pea Ridge (4,794)
• Rogers (55,964)
• Siloam Springs (15,039)

Boone*

• Harrison (12,943)

Bradley*

• Warren (6,003)

Calhoun*

• Hampton (1,324)

Carroll*

• Berryville (5,356)
• Eureka Springs (2,073)

Chicot*

• Lake Village (2,575)

Clark*

• Arkadelphia (10,714)

Clay*

• Corning (3,377)
• Piggott (3,849)

Cleburne*

• Greers Ferry (891)
• Heber Springs (7,165)

Columbia*

• Magnolia (11,577)

Conway*

• Morrilton (6,767)

Craighead

• Brookland (1,642)
• Jonesboro (67,263)
• Lake City (2,082)
• Monette (1,501)

Crawford

• Van Buren (22,791)

Crittenden

• Marion (12,345)
• West Memphis (26,240)

Cross*

• Wynne (8,367)

Dallas*

• Fordyce (4,300)

Desha*

• Arkansas City (366)
• Dumas (4,706)
• Mcgehee (4,219)

Drew*

• Monticello (9,467)

Faulkner

• Conway (58,908)
• Greenbrier (4,706)
• Mayflower (2,234)
• Vilonia (3815)

Franklin*

• Charleston (2,494)
• Ozark (3,684)

Fulton*

• Moko (1,635)
• Salem (1,635)

Garland

• Hot Springs (35,193)
• Hot Springs Village (12,807)

Grant

• Sheridan (4,603)

Greene*

• Paragould (26,113)

Hempstead*

• Hope (10,095)

Hot Spring*

• Malvern (10,318

Howard*

• Nashville (4,627)

Independence*

• Batesville (10,248)

Izard*

• Melbourne (1,848)

Jackson*

• Newport (7,879)

Jefferson

• Altheimer (984)
• Pine Bluff (49,083)
• White Hall (5,526)

Johnson*

• Clarksville (9,178)

Lafayette*

• Lewisville (1,280)

Lawrence*

• Walnut Ridge (4,890)

Lee*

• Marianna (4,115)

Little River*

• Ashdown (4,723)

Logan*

• Paris (3,532)
• Ratcliff (202)

Lonoke

• Cabot (23,776)
• Carlisle (2,214)
• Scott (72)

Madison

• Huntsville (2,346)

Miller

• Texarkana (29,919)

Mississippi*

• Blytheville (15,620)
• Manila (3,342)

Monroe*

• Clarendon (1,664)

Montgomery*

• Mount Ida (1,076)

Ouachita*

• Camden (12,183)

Perry

• Perryville (1,460)

Phillips*

• Helena/West Helena (12,282)

Pike*

• Glenwood (2,228)
• Murfreesboro (1,641)

Poinsett

• Harrisburg (2,288)
• Trumann (7,243)

Polk*

• Mena (5,737)

Pope*

• Dover (1,378)
• Pottsville (2,838)
• Russellville (27,920)

Pulaski

• Hensley (139)
• Jacksonville (28,364)
• Little Rock (193,524)
• Maumelle (17,163)
• North Little Rock (62,304)
• Roland (746)
• Sherwood (29,523)

Randolph*

• Pocahontas (6,608)

Saline

• Alexander (2,901)
• Benton (30,681)
• Bryant (16,688)

Scott*

• Waldron (3,618)

Sebastian

• Barling (4,649)
• Fort Smith (86,209)
• Greenwood (8,952)
• Hackett (812)

Sevier*

• De Queen (6,594)

Sharp*

• Ash Flat (1,082)
• Cherokee Village (4,671)

St. Francis*

• Forrest City (15,371)
• Hughes (1,441)

Stone*

• Mountain View (2,748)

Union*

• El Dorado (18,884)
• Junction City (581)
• Smackover (1,865)

Van Buren*

• Clinton (2,602)

Washington

• Farmington (5,974)
• Fayetteville (73,580)
• Lincoln (2,249)
• Prairie Grove (4,380)
• Springdale (69,797)

White*

• Bald Knob (2,897)
• Bradford (759)
• Kensett (1,648)
• Searcy (22,858)

Woodruff*

• Augusta (2,199)

Yell*

• Danville (2,409)
• Dardanelle (4,745)

Counties with * are designated as “RURAL” (non-SMSA). Underlined cities indicate UAMS Regional Center locations.

17 UAMS Regional Center-trained physicians also practice in Texarkana, Texas

Pre-Health Professions Recruiters continue to travel their regions to encourage students across the state to become Arkansas’ health professionals of tomorrow, this year reaching 24,776 students statewide.

Medical Applications of Science for Health (M*A*S*H)

In Summer 2018, 527 high school students participated in one of 33 M*A*S*H camps across the state, with 67% from rural or minority backgrounds. During this two-week program for students entering grades 11 and 12, participants are certified in First Aid and CPR, learn healthy lifestyles, and apply science concepts to “real life” healthcare situations. Ten medical students and three pharmacy students served as M*A*S*H programassistants.

Community Health Applied in Medical Public Service (CHAMPS)

In Summer 2018 and Spring 2019, 84 students participated in CHAMPS. This 3-5 day program offers hands-on experiences in health careers and community service for students entering grades 8, 9 and 10, with 62% from rural or minority backgrounds.

In 2018-19, 105 students glimpsed health careers through Hands-On Health Care activities such as giving injections, drawing blood, and physical therapy, as well as 1,483 Health Explorers engaged in other age-appropriate offerings.

A Day in the Life

These one-day events give an in-depth look into a specific health career, such as nursing or radiology, and include both lecture and hands-on activities. In 2018-19, 300 students participated.

Club Scrub & Med Pro-Ed

School-based clubs encourage exploration of health careers through meetings and activities, with 73 participants this year.

Medical Interpreting

Our UAMS Northwest recruiter, who is Hispanic, taught a Medical Interpreting class for 27 bilingual high school seniors this spring.

College Pre-Professional Training and Support

College students can arrange mentoring and volunteer service opportunities through any of our regional centers. Pre-Med students get help applying for medical school through mock interviews and MCAT prep, reaching 144 students this year.

Group Presentations and Events

In addition to the structured programs described above, our recruiters reached 17,205 other students across the state through school presentations, career fair booths, facility tours, and other groups and venues to increase awareness about health careers, workforce needs, salary potential, training opportunities, and academic pre-requisites. Statewide, general networking also reached 4,851 parents and faculty.

Zoe Weeks of Jonesboro was awarded a $10,000 Arkansas Mutual Medical Student scholarship for third-year UAMS medical students who intend to practice primary care in rural Arkansas. A graduate of the UA Fayetteville and University of Missouri-St. Louis, Weeks first pursued teaching and then switched to medicine after spending a summer in the Delta and seeing the health care challenges there. She plans to return to northeast Arkansas, where her family is deeply rooted, to practice family medicine or pediatrics. In addition, Hannah McCarthy and Heath Mitchell were the 2018-19 recipients of Arkansas’ Blue Cross Blue Shield Primary Care Scholarship.

Rural Medicine Student Leadership Association

L-Christopher Westfall, MD, Dean, UAMS College of Medicine and R-Corey Little, President, Arkansas Mutual Insurance Co. present award to Zoe Weeks.

The Rural Medicine Student Leadership Association (RMSLA) is sponsored by Regional Programs and Arkansas Farm Bureau to provide peer support for Rural Practice students, to inform state policy, to create connections between students, practitioners, and communities, and to provide regular meetings and speakers to discuss issues of importance to future rural physicians. This year, 175 students were involved in RMSLA.

The diversity of patients I got to see – pediatrics, OB, psych, and general adult medicine cases – every single day was absolutely amazing and has me considering Family Medicine as a future career!

Jr. Clerkship Participant

Family Medicine Interest Group

The Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG) reached 375 students this year, with monthly meetings averaging 30-40 attendees. Guest speakers offer diverse perspectives to increase student awareness of all aspects of medicine, practice models, financial management, health care policies, and personal stories. Arkansas’ residency programs sponsored a record number of 27 UAMS medical students to attend the 2019 AAFP National Student and Resident Conference July 25-27, in Kansas City, KS.

Other Rural Practice Incentive Programs

Medical students who participate in the UAMS Rural Practice Program complete a Family Medicine Preceptorship and their Junior Family Medicine Clerkship in a non-urban community, which often is one of our regional centers. Students also complete a senior rotation (Primary Care Selective or Acting Internship) at a regional site.

In 2018-19, 38 medical students and 29 residents had a Rural Practice commitment, with another 40 physicians, (including the Community Match Rural Physician Recruitment Program) actually practicing in a qualifying community. Learn more about the Rural Practice Programs.

Family Medicine Preceptorships

During Summer 2018, 32 medical students participated in the Family Medicine Preceptorship program, a 4-week clinical shadowing opportunity for entering second-year medical students to work with family physicians in Arkansas towns.

Service Learning Preceptorships

Additional 4-week Service Learning Preceptorships were completed by 4 students in the Summer of 2018.

Projects included various Quality Improvement projects, such as STEM for Girls Scouts, Social Determinants of Health Evaluation Tool Review, and Childhood Asthma Trigger Education.

Junior Clerkships in Family Medicine

In 2018-19, 73% (127/174) of the junior class performed family medicine clerkships in our regional centers. This mandatory experience, at a time when students are beginning to make decisions regarding specialty and practice location, is the most effective recruitment tool to date for our residency programs. There were an additional 18 Longitudinal Clerkships (6 month) that took place at UAMS Northwest.

Senior Electives & Acting Internships

In 2018-19, 29% (48/165) of the senior class completed rotations in our regional centers. The senior year of medical school allows students to design a program of study to meet personal career goals. Acting Internships are 4-week required rotations that focus on inpatient clinical skills and preparation for the first year of residency. Senior Electives also available through our centers include Family Medicine Primary Care, Rural Primary Care, Sports Medicine, and Emergency Medicine.

AHEC Scholars Program

AHEC* Scholars is a new, national initiative to equip an interprofessional workforce to practice community-based primary care in rural and underserved areas. The goal is to prepare a workforce for Arkansas that is diverse and culturally competent, equitably distributed statewide, and capable of delivering high quality health care in evolving systems.

The program is designed to enhance skills and competence in topics such as Behavioral Health Integration, Social Determinants of Health, Cultural Competence, Practice Transformation and other Current & Emerging Issues. At UAMS, we have designed our program to integrate and enhance existing core components of the required IPE curriculum with new community-based primary care options. Students will learn together as interprofessional teams while providing care and improving quality and scholarly skills with vulnerable patients in underserved settings.

*Area Health Education Center (AHEC) is a program of the Bureau of Health Workforce, Health Resources & Services Admin, HHS.

Regional Programs offer students opportunities for interprofessional education and hands-on training at our regional clinical locations across the state, including medical, pharmacy, nursing, and behavioral health faculty teams.

Pharmacy

This year, 48 pharmacy students completed training at one of our centers. UAMS Regional Programs clinical pharmacists enjoy an integral role in the complex care committees in their respective family medicine clinics, and in their centers’ scholarly activities and academic leadership initiatives. Intensive review of high utilization patients often reveals drug therapy opportunities to improve quality metrics and reduce costs. A particular point of emphasis has been the

review and quality improvement for prescription opoids and other controlled substances. These efforts are paying dividends in improving consistency for proper provision and documentation of such care.

Nursing

In 2018-19, 43 nursing students from various educational institutions, ranging from nursing assistants to masters level nurse practitioners, participated in educational courses and practicum experiences at our regional centers.

UAMS College of Nursing faculty at our regional centers teach courses and serve as faculty preceptors, while assisting rural students with academic advising, online and distance offerings, and clinical assignments.

2018-2019 Nursing Students

• Advanced Practice RNs (APRN) – 14
• Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) – 23
• Registered Nurses (RN) – 4
• Nursing Assistants – 2

Health Professions

Physician Assistants

This year, 20 students from the UAMS Physician Assistant (PA) program completed rotations at our regional centers. These experiences focus on clinical aspects of family medicine and primary care in both outpatient and inpatient settings.

Other Trainees

Other students included 3 Social Work Interns, (1 BSW, 2 MSW) at UAMS Northwest, 6 Physical Medicine and Rehab students at UAMS South, 4 Phlebotomy students at UAMS Northeast & East, 2 Radiologic Imaging students at UAMS Northwest, and 1 Medical Assistant student at UAMS East.

Continuing Education 2018-19 Number of Live Conferences 15 Number of Teleconferences 123 Total Attendees 2,228 New Learn On Demand Activities 240 Total New Users This Year 2,708

The UAMS Institute for Digital Health & Innovation (IDHI), formerly the Center for Distance Health, provides most continuing education for UAMS Regional Centers. The IDHI Programs are available in a variety of formats, including LIVE, webinar, interactive video, and enduring materials at www.LearnOnDemand.org

In partnership with IDHI, a new Faculty Development Conversation Series was launched in August 2018 to enhance scholarly activity opportunities across our network. REP faculty present bi-monthly programs, along with other expert presenters, to highlight best practices and ACGME and HRSA priorities, such as Behavioral Health Integration, Social Determinants of Health, Practice Transformation and other current and emerging issues like Opioids.

The IDHI has a strong infrastructure in continuing education, particularly with learnondemand.org, which has grown to more than 15,000 users. Health care professionals are able to obtain continuing education credit online. The online programs are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission of Accreditation, and Certified Health Education Specialists/ Master Certified Health Education Specialists (CHES/MCHES), as well as certificates of attendance for allied health.

Learning Resource Centers

UAMS Regional Centers’ Libraries continue to serve their areas, providing research and information to residents, physicians, students, and other organizations. Due to the expansion and ease of availability to online resources in recent years, our library facilities continue to scale back as appropriate. In 2018-2019, our centers served over 16,000 library patrons, including health professionals, students, residents, and consumers.

Our faculty, residents, and staff are very active in their communities, serving on many national, state, and local advisory boards and committees. They provide a vast array of health care services, screenings, support groups, and other resources, some of which are listed below.

Physical exams and health services:

• Boy and Girl Scouts
• Church Health Clinics
• Medical Mission Trips
• Nursing Homes
• Immunizations
• School Athletics
• Special Olympics
• Veterans CBOC
• Asthma/COPD
• Diabetes
• GI/Colonoscopy/EGD
• HIV/AIDS
• High Risk Obstetrics
• Infectious Diseases
• Minor Surgery

Other clinics & counseling:

• Anticoagulation Colposcopy
• Developmentally Delayed
• Hyperlipidemia
• Prenatal Care
• Tobacco Cessation
• Weight Control

Community Education & Service:

• Baby Safety Showers
• Nutrition & Fitness
• Diabetes Management
• Substance Use Disorders
• Hypertension/Stroke
• Reach Out & Read
• CPR Instruction

Regional Programs continues to demonstrate exceptional financial performance in the management of its resources. The following information highlights key accomplishments for the period ended June 30, 2019:

• Regional Programs again achieved a positive operating margin for FY 2019.

• This year, we were thrilled to open a new Family Medical Center at UAMS South Central in Pine Bluff.

• We continue to improve on the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model at our Family Medicine Clinics with advance care processes and protocols as required under the PCMH delivery model.
• Our management and staff continue to seek ways to reduce overall cost of operations by standardizing certain business processes, procuring of supplies and services under group purchasing agreements, and by ensuring that our human capital resources are optimally employed to meet program requirements.

Funding Sources 2018-19

• Grants / Other – 4%
• Contracts – 18%
• Professional Fees – 47%
• State Funds – 22%
• Tobacco Funds – 4%

The fifth Annual Statewide Research Colloquium & Teaching Innovations Symposium was held in Little Rock in May 2019, with 16 faculty and residents attending and presenting or leading discussions on new and innovative teaching, quality improvement, and other research projects to share findings, ideas, and best practices. Topics included:

• Pharmacy Administered Immunizations – How to keep track?
• HIV in Rural South and the Need for PrEP Therapy
• Developing a COPD Care Management Program
• Improving Birth Cohort Hepatitis C Screening in a Family Medicine Residency Clinic
• Complex Care Team: Inter-Professional Education Meeting
• How a Winter Activity Workshop Helped with Resident Well-being Goals

UAMS Regional Programs’ faculty and residents present regularly at local and statewide venues, and publish scholarly articles extensively in Evidence-Based Practice, a national peer-reviewed journal published by the Family Practice Inquiries Network (FPIN). A sampling of publications and national presentations from this year are listed below.

Publications

McElfish PA, Long CR, Kohler PO, Yeary KHK, Bursac Z, Narcisse MR, Felix HC, Rowland B, Hudson JS, Goulden PA. Comparative effectiveness and maintenance of diabetes self-management education interventions for Marshallese patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized controlled trial. Diabetes Care. 2019; 42(5):e1-10. [Epub 12 March 2019]. doi: 10.2337/dc18-1985

Seaton VA, Dickey TA, Balli ML, Briggs BE, Baker JD, Hudson JS. Rate of positive depression screenings among Marshallese patients with diabetes in Northwest Arkansas. Ment Health Clin. 2019 Jan; 9(1):36-40.

McElfish P, Balli M, Hudson J, et al. Identifying and Understanding Barriers and Facilitators to Medication Adherence Among Marshallese Adults in Arkansas. Journal of Pharmacy Technology. First published July 6, 2018 https://doi.org/10.1177/8755122518786262

National Presentations

Bridewell M, Howell R, Jansen M. Practical Solutions to Improve Rural Health: A Meeting Sponsored by the Reforming States Group in Collaboration with the Milbank Memorial Fund. Louisville, Kentucky. December 2018.

Clardy B. AR-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team (DMAT) Deployment training – Rapid Needs Assessment for Disasters. Charlotte, NC, September 2018.

Howell R. Marshall A. HRSA Workforce Grand Rounds Webinar Series: Strengthening the Rural Health Workforce: Tools, Resources and Outcomes. November 2018. https://bhw.hrsa.gov/grants/technicalassistance/grand-rounds-webinarseries

Hudson J, Sparks K, Yeary KHK, Goulden P, McElfish P. Improving Outcomes: Development of a Culturally Adapted Family Model of Diabetes Self-Management

Education for Marshallese. American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE) Annual Conference. Baltimore, Maryland. August 2018.

Kramp L. Decreasing Avoidable ER Visits. Honorable Mention. National CPC+ Meeting, Baltimore, MD. May 2019.

Scott Dickson, MD, Residency Director Faye Turner, Administrative Director

UAMS Northeast Regional Campus had another great year. Our Family Medicine Residency match this year was one for the record books, with all eight of our new interns being UAMS graduates! While our program is very excited to have these new residents join our team, goodbyes had to be said to seven outstanding physicians that graduated in June from our program. These seven graduates had a 100% board pass rate, making this the fifth year our program achieved a 100% pass rate.

Our outstanding faculty deserve accolades for contributing to the success of these physicians. Leading the charge is Residency Director, Dr. Scott Dickson, who served this past year as the 71st President of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Dickson received a Red Sash Teaching Award at the UAMS College of Medicine Honors Convocation. We also had a successful year for recruiting two very important positions to the faculty: Grace Chiu, MD and Kodi Liddell, PharmD both joined our faculty in July.

Northeast’s 30th annual M*A*S*H camp was a success, with Yalanda Merrell leading this program to new heights and by providing students with an outstanding overview of health care fields. This year 56 students from Northeast Arkansas participated in M*A*S*H. These included students from: Jonesboro-20; Blytheville-10; Paragould-14; and Pocahontas-12.

In 2019, 27 students participated in our MCAT prep course, which is an excellent and one-of-a-kind joint venture between UAMS Northeast and Arkansas State University (ASU). ASU has been an exceptional long- term partner in helping us deliver educational opportunities to students in Northeast Arkansas. This program, in its ninth year, has been very successful in helping students fulfill their dream of entering medical school. To date, 81% of the MCAT prep participants have been accepted into medical school.

Other student outreach activities are also making a difference. With 124 students participating in A Day in the Life, it is easy to see how impactful this program has become in Northeast Arkansas.

Additionally, 23 students participated in Hands on Healthcare, which is a more one-on-one and hands on program. Both programs continue to flourish and provide excellent training for students interested in the health care fields.

In the clinical area, Tele-Retinal Services have been added to our clinical offerings this year, as well as X-ray over-read services provided by the UAMS Radiology Department. Additionally, the residency program continues to work two services at St. Bernard’s Medical Center, which provides excellent inpatient training for our residents.

UAMS Northeast continues to participate in quality improvement initiatives in an effort to reshape how we deliver care from a fee-for-service model to a patient-centered and value-based outcomes model. With this in mind, our program opened a food pantry this year as a new resource to help our patients with food insecurities.

Our UAMS Northeast team is committed to ongoing pursuit of the overall goal and mission to continue to improve customer service, quality of care and education, and patient outcomes for all our patients. Continuing to work and collaborate with many local and regional partners, we pledge to always do all we can to positively impact healthcare for the citizens of northeast Arkansas in significant and sustainable ways.

Ron Brimberry, MD, Interim Residency Director
Carol Riggins, Interim Administrative Director

Since 1977, when it was founded, the UAMS Northwest Family Medicine Residency program has graduated 277 residents. Edward Yang, M.D., joined our faculty in October as a hospitalist at Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, while Susan Wait, RN; Elizabeth Beecher; Doug Beecher; and Tommye Martin retired from UAMS Northwest this year. The residency program formed a Wellness Committee to address new ACGME requirements on resident and faculty well-being in 2018. Larry Balle, II, M.D., MPH, Class of 2018 Sports Medicine Fellow, joined our Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship faculty in July, 2018.

The UAMS Northwest Family Medical Centers have a Quality Improvement Committee that meets monthly and a Patient Advisory Council that meets quarterly. An interprofessional complex care team meets weekly with upper level residents to discuss high-risk patients and formulate a plan for their care, with participation of faculty, residents, medical students, pharmacy students, and social work students.

Nine residents sat for and passed the ABFM Board Exam in April, 2019, marking the sixth straight year the program has had a 100% board pass rate. The Family Medicine Residency was approved for continued accreditation during the ACGME RRC for Family Medicine meeting in January 2019. Our program continues as a 9-9-9 program, with plans for expansion in the near future. The Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship at UAMS Northwest had an ACGME site visit on May 8, 2018, and the program was moved to continued accreditation in October, 2018 with no citations.

UAMS Northwest ended its 2019 MASH and CHAMPS programs with great success. The UAMS Northwest Recruitment Specialist, Ana Sanchez continues to reach area students to encourage them toward health careers. This year, 61 high school students participated in a two-week MASH summer camp in Fayetteville, Rogers and Harrison, with 15 school districts represented. Former MASH participants were invited to the MASH graduation luncheon to share about their experiences in MASH, as well as their advice regarding college and medical school.

CHAMPS (Community Health Applied in Medical Public Service) is a one- week program for junior high school students interested in exploring health professions. This year, 85 junior high school students participated in our spring and summer CHAMPS programs in Fayetteville, Harrison and at NWACC, with 17 school districts represented. For the community service project, we teamed up with the Central Emergency Medical Services to teach hands-only CPR to younger students, currently attending summer school.

This year, 25 graduating seniors from Rogers, Bentonville, Springdale, Farmington, Fayetteville and Lincoln participated in our Medical Interpreter Training Program, over five consecutive weeks. Students met for 16 hours of lecture and 4 hours of interpreting skills at Mercy hospital under the supervision of a trained medical interpreter, with 24 of the 25 earning a certificate of completion.

Mimo Lemdja, MD, Residency Director
Maria Coday, Interim Administrative Director

UAMS South in Magnolia saw a number of changes this year. In accordance with Regional Programs organizational changes at the statewide level, UAMS South has transitioned to a new dual leadership structure with Dr. Mimo Lemdja named as our Residency Director and Maria Coday serving as the Interim Administrative Director. Dr. Lemdja and Maria oversee the daily operations of UAMS South and report to Mark Deal, Executive Director for Regional Programs, Southern Region, who oversees the centers in Texarkana, Helena, Pine Bluff, and Magnolia. In addition, UAMS South welcomed to our team Dr. John Alexander, as well as two new APRNs, Harriet Alexander and Tomekia White. All bring a wealth of experience to their roles.

Dr. Mark Attwood joined UAMS South as part-time faculty in November 2018. Dr. Attwood has been with UAMS Regional Programs/AHEC for over 35 years, previously serving as residency director at UAMS South Central in Pine Bluff. We are also extremely fortunate to have Dr. Peter Carroll continuing with us, sharing his more than 30 years of experience with UAMS. Dr. Carroll previously served as residency program director and also as center director for UAMS South.

UAMS South continues to demonstrate our commitment to patient care, as we successfully passed all quality measures and metrics from state and federal programs, such as Arkansas Medicaid and Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield. UAMS South is proud to be a Patient Centered Medical Home, where we continue to provide access to many services such as care coordination, radiology, telemedicine, and scheduling of preventive services.

We are committed to the continuous improvement of our resident education program in Magnolia, under the leadership of Dr. Mimo Lemdja, as we remain focused on providing a training program that produces caring, competent, and board-certified physicians who are prepared to serve rural populations. Our community partners continue their support of our program, and we anticipate strengthening these relationships in the future.

UAMS Regional Programs announced recently that the Family Medicine Residency Program in El Dorado will be re-opened. Mark Deal is leading this project and is working closely with Medical Center of South Arkansas in El Dorado and Dr. Mimo Lemdja and other UAMS South leadership in Magnolia, to establish a primary care clinic facility on the hospital campus in El Dorado by 2021; followed by opening of the residency program in July 2022. The program will then be jointly located in Magnolia and El Dorado, with the El Dorado program supporting 12 residents (4-4- 4) once the program is fully established. The Magnolia program will continue to support 9 residents (3-3-3) and both programs will be operated under the UAMS South umbrella.

Our faculty and residents began a new process this year with Magnolia Schools to provide screenings for children needing Well Child Visits (WCC). During a recent mass School Physical clinic, including over 300 school physicals performed by our doctors and APRN’s, we screened and were able to identify patients who had not been in for their annual WCC and provide them with information to call and schedule their screenings.

Toni Middleton, MD, Residency Director
Jayson Fenters, Administrative Director

As we look back over the past year, it is hard to believe that 46 years have passed since UAMS South Central (then AHEC-Pine Bluff) opened its doors, to serve 11 counties in Central and Southeast Arkansas. Our mission is to provide programs to improve the distribution, diversity, supply, and quality of healthcare providers, specifically for rural and underserved areas in Arkansas. Maintaining a high physician graduate retention rate for Arkansas is a top priority, and seven of our ten 2019 graduating residents are remaining in Arkansas to practice.

In June 2018, construction began on our new facility and in February, we began operating in the new UAMS Family Medical Center facility, located in the JPC II building on the Jefferson Regional Medical Center (JRMC) campus. Previously, we operated four clinics in Pine Bluff: UAMS Family Medical Center I and II, UAMS Justiss-Lindsey clinic, and the Pine Bluff VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC). With this transition, we were able to consolidate three of our four clinics into one new state-of-the-art facility, consisting of four team pods, 41 exam and 3 procedure rooms, a full service lab, and digital radiography services. The move also enabled us to consolidate our Family Medicine Residency and administrative support functions under one roof. UAMS South Central continues to focus on the Patient Centered Medical home model of care, to improve patient health outcomes, effectively manage our patient population, and improve clinical operation efficiency.

Our transition presented opportunity for Debbie Hinkle, UAMS South Central Librarian, to work with the UAMS campus library service to pilot the first all- digital medical library in Regional Programs’ System.

Previously, our library was housed in 4,000 sq feet and contained reference materials dating back to 1914. It was a massive undertaking to convert from bound stacks to digital, with Debbie being instrumental in leading our Melville/Julie Dobbins library into the future.

Our Family Medicine Residency continues to offer training under leadership of Residency Director, Dr. Toni Middleton, Assistant Director, Dr. Darrell Over, and other outstanding faculty. Thanks to our strong faculty, and staff, the residency program received continuing, unencumbered re-accreditations from the American College of Graduate Medical Education.

In June, Pre-Health recruitment specialist, Renisha Ward, led our MASH program in Pine Bluff with 25 area high school students. This year, MASH camps were also offered in Pine Bluff, DeWitt, Monticello, Hot Springs and Malvern, and we hope to see Benton and Stuttgart added next year. Through MASH, students are introduced to various healthcare professions, to encourage them toward health careers. A Club Scrub program, in conjunction with the Ivy Center for Education and UAPB, is an innovative 6-month program introducing minority students to health professions with hands on experiences.

In February, Mark Deal relinquished his duties as Center Director of UAMS South Central in Pine Bluff to assume the role of Regional Executive for the Southern Division of Regional Programs. In this new role, he will oversee the regional centers in Pine Bluff, Helena, Magnolia and Texarkana. Jayson Fenters, Administrative Director and Dr. Toni Middleton, Residency Program Director have assumed joint responsibility for the day-to-day activities of the local Pine Bluff campus. Since opening in 1973, UAMS South Central has enjoyed great success due to exceptional backing from UAMS, dedicated staff, support from our local hospital partner JRMC, and strong collaboration with our many valued local and regional partners.

Russell Mayo, MD, Residency Director
Judy McDonald, Administrative Director

UAMS

Southwest completed another successful

year serving the citizens of Southwest Arkansas. Our Family Medical Center (FMC) continues to see an increase in patient visits with high patient satisfaction, with an additional After-Hours Clinic planned.

UAMS Southwest first partnered with Arkansas Children’s Hospital in 2017 to establish a telemedicine pediatric urology and asthma clinic. Since then, in conjunction with UAMS in Little Rock, four more telemedicine clinics have been added: OB High Risk, OB Diabetic, Spine Clinic, and Trauma, with patient and parental feedback overwhelmingly positive. Tele- Retinal and Behavioral Medicine will make their debut next year. UAMS ANGELS high-risk OB telemedicine service is also increasing clinics at UAMS Southwest by three days per month.

The UAMS Southwest FMC was recently invited to partner with the Fouke, Arkansas school district to serve as medical provider for their School-Based Health Center. This will be the only medical facility in the Fouke community, including mental health services, with plans to offer dental and vision starting in December. Our FMC met or exceeded population management quality goals on 13 CPC+ quality metrics and contacted 96% of patients within two days of hospital discharge, also scoring 100% on our Arkansas Medicaid care plan audit for the second year. Special Health Resources for Texas (SHR), a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and partner with All for Kids Pediatric Clinic (AFK), is now billing for Arkansas Medicaid in addition to Texas Medicaid.

Our residency program currently enjoys continued accreditation with no citations, and is the first program in the REP network to complete a Self Study assessment for continued accreditation. The results of the Self Study will be submitted in October with a site visit expected in November.

Two of our residency graduates were accepted into fellowships: Nicole Nash, M.D. into Sports Medicine at Southern Illinois University, and Olena Romenska, M.D. into Emergency Medicine at CHRISTUS St. Michael Hospital in Texarkana, TX. Afsha Rais, M.D. completed a faculty development fellowship and will be assisting in starting a new Family Medicine Residency in Arlington, TX.

This year marks the 21st Sports Medicine Symposium that continues to be a very popular program, due in part to Michael Downs, M.D. Besides providing sideline medical support at area high school football games, this year our residents, nurses, and staff provide sports physicals for over 4,000 athletes from 10 different school districts in Arkansas and Texas.

Research and scholarly activities continue to abound as Drs. Nix, Nicole Nash, and Stephen Epping presented three QI Projects at the “UAMS Regional Programs Research & Scholarly Activity Symposium” in April.

Drs. Nix, Downs, Diaz, and Verma, along with their respective teams of PGY2 and PGY3 residents, published five articles in Evidence-Based Medicine. Melissa Potts, RRT and Holly Jenkins, MSN, RN, Director of Clinical Practice, traveled to all regional centers to train nurses on performing spirometry.

Melissa created a training manual for each location and performed hands-on training, which will aid providers in diagnosing pulmonary diseases and evaluating treatment effectiveness.

We congratulate Russell Mayo, M.D. on his promotion to Associate Professor in the UAMS College of Medicine and his appointment as Interim Chief Medical Officer for Regional Programs. Dr. Mayo has served as faculty since 1992 and as Program Director since 2000.

Barbara McWilliams, APRN an original employee of AFK, is retiring in July and will be missed by everyone, especially her patients.

Katherine Irish-Clardy, MD, Residency Director
Chris Holland, Administrative Director

This year our statewide network has undergone a transformation of our organizational structure, which we feel will better align us all to face future challenges and opportunities.

UAMS West has operated two full years in our new medical clinic. The new layout has allowed increased access for many patients, implementing multiple telehealth services through partnerships with UAMS and Arkansas Children’s Hospital. We will continue to expand these services to patients to reduce access barriers that many in our service area face.

Our former clinic was renovated and now serves as the Administrative and Education Building. We upgraded the educational conference room spaces significantly, and renamed the 2nd Floor conference room the Don A. Heard Training Center, in honor of our former Director who retired in February 2019.

The UAMS West quality improvement team has continued their successful campaign of improving health outcomes of our patients. The NCQA recognition as a PCMH was a huge accomplishment for 2018-2019, especially since in 2017 the PCMH program was redesigned with a new set of requirements. As part of the Arkansas Medicaid PCMH Program and CPC Plus, our practice successfully passed all requirements from these state and federal initiatives. A QI project on decreasing avoidable ER Visits, spearheaded by Dr. Lyndsey Kramp, received honorable mention at the National CPC Plus meeting in Baltimore in May.

Our faculty and residents conducted a great deal of scholarly/research activities in 2018-2019. Bryan Clardy, MD presented “Rapid Needs Assessment for Disaster” in Charlotte, NC, while deployed with the AR-1 DMAT (Disaster Medical Assistance Team) during Hurricane Michael.

With Dr. Lyndsey Kramp as lead faculty mentor on statewide and national scholarly presentations, Dr. Katherine Irish-Clardy, Dr. Chris Fortson, Dr. John Lane, and Dr. Jessica Binz also provided oversight for residents on presentations, including Improving Influenza Vaccination in HIV Patients, Improving Birth Cohort Hepatitis C Screening in a Family Medicine Residency Clinic, and Diabetic Eye Exams.

Our affiliated partner teaching hospital was officially purchased by Baptist Health effective November 1, 2018. Baptist Health has done quite well in central Arkansas and, from our own discussions and collaboration with Baptist Leadership throughout the transition process, we are confident that this relationship will continue to prosper. We believe that Baptist will strengthen and improve the environment our residents are training under in the hospital inpatient setting.

Don Heard, Ed.D., MBA, our long-term Center Director, retired effective February 2019 after 32 outstanding years of leadership at UAMS West. As everyone who worked with Don knew, he had a passion for this program to succeed. He helped develop the “family” culture at UAMS West and accomplished so many great things during his tenure. Most of all, Don treated his colleagues and everyone he encountered with a great deal of respect and kindness. Don will be greatly missed and we wish him all the best.

Our program in Fort Smith has a very bright future, especially since our programs are now more aligned across the state and we are sharing best practices with one another. We plan to work diligently toward becoming the premier Medical Home for improving the health of patients and communities across West Arkansas, while continuing to train health care professionals through high quality education.

We are extremely grateful for the leadership and commitment of our center directors, faculty, and staff, the support of our affiliated hospitals and other community partners, and the commitment to educational outreach of the various UAMS colleges.

UAMS Campus

Educational programs at UAMS Regional Programs are approved by the appropriate colleges at UAMS and coordinated through a central office on the UAMS campus. Regional faculty are involved in the medical school admissions and interviewing process and also teach classes on campus and via IVN.

Regional Programs Faculty

Our Center Directors, Residency Directors and Medical Directors serve as regional health care leaders and are responsible for administering programs in their respective areas. Multi-disciplinary teams of medical, nursing, pharmacy, and allied health professionals oversee and participate in clinical training.

Regional Partners

We are indebted to our affiliated community-based teaching hospitals, clinics, and other providers and facilities with whom we work to promote cooperative solutions to local health problems. Our M*A*S*H programs are made possible through the long-term support of Arkansas Farm Bureau, Arkansas Blue Cross/ Blue Shield, and Baptist Health. We partner with HOSA and TRIO on career pipeline programs.

We collaborate with the Office of Rural Health & Primary Care, hospitals, nursing homes, and others on rural and primary care workforce issues. Partnerships with Centers on Aging and Veterans Administration help meet the regional needs of the state’s elderly and our veterans. We are in the process of greatly expanding our collaborative efforts with the Community Health Centers of Arkansas (CHCA) and the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership (ARHP), as well as with our HBCUs at the University of Arkansas as Pine Bluff and Philander Smith College. Important progress on those fronts will be reported in next year’s annual report.

UAMS Regional Programs also collaborate with many schools, vo-tech and community colleges, and universities across Arkansas to provide health professions education specific to regional needs.

Affiliated Community Hospitals & Clinical Training Sites

Regional centers hold formal agreements with the community hospitals listed below as host institutions and training facilities. We extend deep appreciation to our teaching hospital affiliates, which contribute facilities, funds, and staff in support of our programs.

UAMS East

• Crittenden Memorial Hospital
• Helena Regional Medical Center
• Chicot Memorial Hospital

UAMS North Central

• White River Medical Center
• Baxter Regional Medical Center
• Woodlawn Heights Nursing Home

UAMS Northeast

• St. Bernards Regional Medical Center
• NEA Baptist Memorial Hospital

UAMS Northwest

• Washington Regional Medical Center
• Northwest Medical Center
• Springdale Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks
• Fayetteville Veteran Affairs Nursing Home
• Willow Creek Women’s Hospital
• Northwest Health Physicians’ Specialty Hospital
• Springdale Health and Rehabilitation Center

UAMS South

• Magnolia Regional Medical Center
• Arkansas Children’s Hospital – Little Rock

UAMS South Central

• Jefferson Regional Medical Center

UAMS Southwest

• CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System
• CHRISTUS St. Michael Rehab Hospital
• Wadley Regional Medical Center

UAMS West

• Sparks Regional Medical Center