heAlth ArkAnSAS - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

U A M S
P r o g r e S S
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F o r
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A r k A nSA S
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Vision Statement
UAMS is a world-renowned academic health sciences center improving the health of Arkansans.
the UAMS MissionS
To teach, to heal, to search, to serve
Mission Statement
The mission of UAMS is to improve the health, health care and well-being of
all Arkansans and of others in the region, nation and world through:
Education of exemplary health care providers
Provision of standard-setting, comprehensive clinical programs
Scientific discovery and research
Extension of services to the State of Arkansas and beyond
Core Values
Integrity – We foster, encourage and expect honesty and the
highest ethical standards in all that we do.
Respect – We embrace a culture of professionalism with respect for the dignity of all persons,
honoring the unique contributions provided by a diversity of perspectives and cultures.
Teamwork – We seek to create interdisciplinary, synergistic and collegial
relationships characterized by collaboration, inclusiveness and flexibility.
Creativity – We encourage and support innovation, imagination,
ingenuity, resourcefulness and vision.
Excellence – We strive to achieve, through continuous improvement and adherence to
institutional policies and best practices, the highest quality and standards in all our endeavors.
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UAMS is dedicated to improving lives through
better health. It does this through its missions of
educating tomorrow’s health care professionals;
providing quality medical care to patients;
researching new lifesaving and life-prolonging
medical treatments; and reaching out statewide
with programs and services.
Preventing illness and promoting healthy lifestyles
is a key part of making Arkansas a healthier
state, but UAMS also plays a role in the economic
health of our state. It is almost impossible to
separate factors that make us healthy mentally
and physically from factors that contribute to our
quality of life or our economic well-being.
We recently adopted a strategic plan for the future,
identifying a set of core values that we believe are
essential to accomplishing our missions. Through
integrity, respect, teamwork, creativity and
excellence, we can deliver on our four missions in
a way that helps us achieve our vision.
This report will show progress in meeting our
missions. In addition, it gives us a chance to
share some good news as we build for the future
of health care in Arkansas. To do this, we draw
on the talent and dedication of our faculty and
staff; the reach of our programs; and the generous
support we have received.
I. Dodd Wilson, M.D.
UAMS Chancellor
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To Teach: Education of exemplary health care providers
Almost two years ago, Sandee
Sealy quit her job in management
at a Little Rock hospital and
entered a three-year master’s
“I couldn’t eat for 34 days prior
to my gallbladder surgery. I was
on home infusion receiving total
parenteral nutrition through an
8; Allysa, 5; D’Allan, 3; and
Alston, 18 months. “We all do
lesson time together. They get at
the table with their books and I
get at the desk with my
books. Even the baby
has a crayon and paper.
D’Allan is practicing
his name; the girls
are doing spelling. I’ll
ask, ‘Why is education
everyone else have worked with me
and supported me,” she said.
She calls the College of Nursing
program “very challenging
and one of the top schools in
the nation.” She is confident
she’s getting “the skills I need
to be prepared when I graduate
to sit for my boards and be
an excellent clinician.”
“I want to contribute back
and be a mentor both in the
clinic and in the cl assroom
to other nurses coming up.
I feel I’m here to motivate,
educate and inspire.”
important?’ And they
say, ‘So we can take
care of ourselves when
we get out of school.’”
program at the College of
Nursing. “I wanted to be at the
bedside with the patients,” she
said. “I feel that’s my ministry
... it is my destiny to be an
advanced practice nurse.”
Sealy is determined that nothing
is going to stand in the way of that
destiny of becoming an advanced
practice nurse – not even caring
for four children under the age
of 8 or two hospitalizations for
gallstones, pancreatitis and
eventual gallbladder surgery.
4
IV,” she said. “Unfortunately my
IV line became septic and I had
to be admitted to the hospital.”
Despite those challenges Sealy
kept up with her class work and
has maintained a 3.7 grade
point average. “I am going to
finish this program as long as
I have strength,” she said.
The value she puts on the
importance of education is
something Sealy’s parents
instilled in her and she is passing
it on to her own children, Allisan,
Growing up in
Texarkana, Texas,
Sealy was the oldest
of three children and
the first person in her
family to graduate
from college. She got
her bachelor’s degree
in nursing from the University of
Arkansas at Pine Bluff in 1996.
“My parents didn’t have the
luxury of going to college but
they told me to get my education
and they made sure I did.”
Sealy shares the credit for her
success in the classroom in
the face of adversity with “my
wonderful” husband, Allan, and
the faculty and staff of the College
of Nursing. “Dr. Claudia Barone,
dean of our college, and Dr.
Carmen Paniagua, my adviser, and
Her dream job, said Sealy, would
be working with cardiology
or endocrinology patients.
She would also like to chair a
department and teach someday.
“I want a career where I can
be instrumental in developing
lives,” she said. “I want to
contribute back and be a
mentor both in the clinic and
in the classroom to other nurses
coming up. I feel I’m here to
motivate, educate and inspire.”
What advice would she give to
someone considering a career
in nursing? “Don’t do it for
the money,” she said. “Do it
because it’s something you enjoy.
We want people to come into
nursing, but we want people
who care and are compassionate
to come into nursing.”
education
at UAMS
PREPARING THE HEALTH
CARE WORK FORCE
FOR TOMORROW
The five colleges and graduate
school at the University of
Arkansas for Medical Sciences
(UAMS) produce many of the
state’s health care professionals.
This becomes more critical in
the 21st century with growing
health care work force shortages
in Arkansas as well as the
nation – driven by the baby
boomer generation reaching
retirement age and the increasing
demand for medical care.
Even before the baby boomers
retire, the state’s health care work
force was lacking in numbers.
Arkansas ranks 48th among the
But this growth will still not meet
the projected demand. Increasing
students in a health care setting
is challenging. The teaching
takes place in classes with a
small number of students as well
as individual and small group
activities and required clinical
rotations. In a clinical rotation,
students are placed in hospital
units, clinics, laboratories or
pharmacies to gain first-hand
experience in a supervised setting.
Increasing students means
increasing faculty, which is
a challenge today for most
academic medical centers.
Faculty salaries do not compete
with the salaries available to these
same individuals as practitioners.
This compounds the difficulty of
attracting and retaining faculty.
As one strategy for
responding to the work
combined student Totals
force shortage, UAMS is
establishing a satellite
campus in northwest
Arkansas. The first
students are expected to
begin at the Fayetteville
campus in 2009, with
2000
2007
2010
eventual enrollment
reaching about 300
50 states for physicians per capita.
students
– including those in
The 700 registered nurses per
medicine, nursing, pharmacy
100,000 population in Arkansas
and allied health programs, as
was less than the national rate
well as resident physicians.
of 780.2. Across many of the
allied health professions, the
TURNING RESIdENTS
state fell below national averages
INTO RESIdENTS
or lagged behind most.
Another strategy to increase the
number of doctors in Arkansas
UAMS ExPANdS
is to increase the number of
ENROLLMENT TO MEET
residencies offered. A residency
WORK FORCE NEEdS
is a period in which a medical
UAMS enrollment reached 2,538
student receives more specialized
students in 2007, a nearly 37
training in a hospital or clinic.
percent increase since 2000.
Most medical students go on to
The university is projecting
serve a residency after graduating
another 18 percent growth, to
from medical school. Because
almost 3,000 students, by 2010.
2,915
proJecTed
2,538
1,855
uams student growth
doctors often stay in the
region where
they complete
their residency,
increasing
residencies
would predictably
increase the
number of doctors
who make Arkansas
their home.
REACCREdITEd
FOR 10 yEARS
UAMS colleges and programs
continue to attain and retain
accreditation by independent
academic or professional
organizations. In 2007, UAMS
was reaccredited for 10 years by
the Higher Learning Commission
of the North Central Association
of Colleges and Schools. The
colleges of medicine, nursing,
pharmacy and public health were
recently reaccredited by their
respective governing bodies for
seven years or more. Programs
in the College of Health Related
Professions were accredited at
a rate of almost one every two
months for the past two years.
According to the site visit report,
representatives from the Higher
Learning Commission remarked:
• “Through its outreach efforts,
the university is serving the
underserved in rural areas
of the state, and is providing
superior clinical training for
its medical residents and other
health care professionals.”
• “An effective learning
environment is evidenced
in the consistently high
pass rates for licensure and
certification examinations.”
• “At all levels of the University
there is a clear consensus that
UAMS lives its mission through
active engagement throughout
The College of Medicine
Geriatrics Program at the
Donald W. Reynolds
Institute on Aging has
been named to the
top 10 graduate programs in the United
States for six years
in a row. Also included in
the list are the UAMS primary care
program (which includes family
medicine, internal medicine and
pediatrics) and the UAMS College
of Nursing master’s program.
UAMS is performing well in
meeting the need for physicians
when compared with other
academic medical centers.*
Arkansas ranks first among
states in the nation in percentage
of medical students from
Arkansas; third in the nation in
percentage of active physicians in
Arkansas who attended UAMS;
and fifth in the nation in
percentage of resident physicians
who choose to stay in Arkansas
after their residency.
* American Association
of Medical Colleges
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all of Arkansas. Its outreach
programs, collaborative
relations with other colleges and
universities, and relationship
with health care providers across
the continuum of care clearly
evidences its commitment to
the Arkansas community.”
A Good Doctor is a
Good Communicator
For more than 15 years, UAMS
medical, nursing, pharmacy
and other students have gained
valuable experience in a realistic
yet controlled setting through
a clinical skills program where
actors portray patients, giving
students a chance to develop
communication and patient
interaction skills. In 2006,
UAMS opened an improved
state-of-the-art Clinical Skills
Center with 10 fully equipped
exam rooms and the latest
technology for supervising
and teaching the students.
“In an optimal physician-patient
relationship, the physician can
comfort, educate and relieve
much of the fear that patients
bring with them,” said Richard
Wheeler, M.D., executive associate
dean for academic affairs in the
College of Medicine.
“Yet, teaching medical
students how to interact with
patients is sometimes far
more difficult than teaching
them how to interpret an X-ray.”
All UAMS medical students who
took a national clinical skills
test in 2005-2006 passed, and
the UAMS pass rate continued to
be above the 97 percent national
average pass rate in 2006-2007.
UAMS recently expanded its
clinical skills program, opening
the Pediatric Understanding &
6
Learning through Simulation
Education (PULSE) Center at
affiliate Arkansas Children’s
Hospital. Using persons
portraying patients along with
high-tech, interactive manikins
– including both adult and
child-sized simulators – the
center can teach clinical and
decision-making skills during
realistic patient care scenarios.
Improving Health While
Improving Health Care
The Fay W. Boozman College
of Public Health has developed
17 degree programs since its
inception in 2001. The college
brings a different perspective to
UAMS’ traditional educational
programs. This new focus includes:
1) a focus on improving the quality
of life for entire communities;
2) a heavy emphasis on
health promotion and disease
prevention as a cost-effective
way to maintain the health and
quality of life for all Arkansans;
3) an emphasis on understanding
and reducing the racial and
ethnic health disparities; and
4) a fundamental commitment
to the policy development,
information gathering and
environmental changes necessary
to promote health and well-being.
The demand for nurses keeps
growing. In fact, almost 30 percent
of all new jobs in health care from
now through 2014 will be for RN
positions. This increased demand
coincides with the country’s severe
nursing shortage. The College of
Nursing is aggressively recruiting
qualified students and is also
identifying strategies to make a
career in nursing possible and
achievable for more Arkansans.
Today, the college offers a Bachelor
of Science in Nursing degree with
an RN-to-BSN completion option,
and the result is they
graduate more prepared
for the increasingly
complicated workplace.
a Master of Nursing Science degree
in eight specialties, and a Doctor
of Philosophy in Nursing degree.
The College of Pharmacy
is increasing class size and
attempting to attract and retain
sufficient faculty to teach
additional students. The pharmacy
business is changing – the
number of prescriptions being
filled has increased dramatically
and this results in a demand
for more pharmacists to fill the
prescriptions. Pharmacy staffing
is required around the clock
– more pharmacies and more
pharmacists are needed and for
a rural state, this is difficult.
More prescriptions mean more
assistance in medication therapy
management – helping patients
with complex medications avoid
adverse interactions. Tomorrow’s
pharmacists must also be prepared
to make evidence-based decisions
to help alleviate the increased cost
of prescription drugs. In addition
to increasing the number of
students, the College of Pharmacy
has changed its curriculum
to incorporate more clinical
experience outside the classroom.
Students now enter clinical
settings during their second year,
The College of Health
Related Professions
now offers degree and
certificate programs in 17
professional areas. This is
a timely accomplishment,
because according to labor
statistics more than half
of those working in health
care today are allied
health professionals. From
radiologic technologists
to paramedics and from dental
hygienists to respiratory therapists,
these are members of the
broad range of professions that
together with doctors, nurses
and pharmacists make up the
modern health care team.
The Graduate School, through
its affiliations with the other
UAMS colleges, houses a number
of advanced programs leading
to the Master of Science and
Doctor of Philosophy degrees
that have garnered national
praise in the fields of aging,
medicine, nursing, pharmacy
and allied health professions.
Its 17 programs include nationally
renowned basic science research
in areas such as biochemistry,
microbiology and pharmacology.
Pushing the boundaries of
biomedical research, this
research often paves the way
for new medical treatments.
The school also offers graduatelevel programs in disciplines
ranging from communication
sciences to occupational and
environmental health.
Education is a Lifetime
RESPONSIBILITy
UAMS provides continuing
education for health care
professionals all over Arkansas
– extensive programs are
offered through the colleges
of Medicine, Pharmacy,
Health Related Professions,
Nursing and Public Health.
The continuing education
seminars are held on the UAMS
campus and at locations across
the state, including the network
of Area Health Education Centers
(AHECs), other hospitals,
community health centers, local
health units, clinics, schools and
universities. Two-way interactive
video also is used to extend the
reach of these programs to allow
local health care professionals to
attend these programs without
having to leave their communities.
LEARNING AT A
dISTANCE WITH THE
HELP OF TECHNOLOGy
Through Web-based courses and
programs utilizing interactive
video, UAMS students complete
their education while working and
living in their own communities.
Several UAMS programs use
distance education, from
diagnostic medical sonography
in the College of Health
Related Professions to courses
in the colleges of Medicine,
Nursing and Pharmacy.
The entire curriculum for
the registered nurse (RN) to
bachelor’s degree (BSN) program
in the College of Nursing can be
delivered online, enabling nurses
to remain in their communities
while earning their BSN degree.
Enrollment in these programs
includes not just students at
locations across Arkansas but
also several out of state. Last year
alone, 1,027 students participated
via one of nine interactive video
sites or through the Internet.
The College of Pharmacy’s Nuclear
Education Online program
was chosen as the outstanding
Distance Education program in
Arkansas in 2007. And with good
reason, considering the training is
reaching 100 nuclear cardiologists
from 25 states and in one year has
reached 718 individuals, including
nuclear and PET pharmacists
and pharmacy technicians.
FACILITIES FOR GROWTH
In 2006, Arkansas voters approved
a bond program that provided
$15.8 million to allow expanded
enrollment and education
opportunities at UAMS. The funds
paid for a new 43,000-square-foot
education building, renovation
of buildings formerly operated
by the Arkansas State Hospital
to house the UAMS College of
Health Related Professions,
and participation by UAMS in
the Lambda Rail, a universitybased, national high-speed data
network dedicated to research.
COLLABORATIONS
UAMS extends its
educational mission
by partnering with
universities such as the
University of Arkansas
at Little Rock, the
University of Arkansas,
Fayetteville, and the
University of Arkansas
Community College at Hope
to offer joint degree and
collaborative programs.
UAMS is the lead institution
in the Mid-America Genetics
Education Consortium (MAGEC),
which along with the University of
Oklahoma Health Sciences Center,
University of Kansas Medical
Center, and University of Nebraska
Medical Center, offers a degree
program in genetic counseling.
The UAMS College of Pharmacy’s
pharmaceutical sciences
program was ranked fifth in
the nation by the Chronicle
of Higher Education based in
part on the amount of research
published by faculty members.
Education West building
opened Aug. 11, 2008
EdUCATION
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To Heal: Standard-setting, comprehensive clinical programs
Michelle Stilwell and Jamey
Nichols of Osceola got their
Christmas wish when they took
their infant daughter home
just days before the holiday.
three attempts by phone to talk
the closer hospital into taking
Michelle, her physician called
UAMS. “They said, ‘come on
down’ and I was taken there by
Within an hour after she
arrived at UAMS, Stilwell gave
birth to Maggie Jane who
weighed 1 pound, 1 ounce.
Maggie Jane was
more than a month
old before her parents
got to hold her for
the first time and
then it was only for a
minute. By the time
she was discharged
she weighed more
than 4 pounds and
her parents were able
to hold her as long
as they wanted.
Little Maggie Jane Nichols
had spent 108 days in the
hospital by then. Stilwell was
just 23 weeks pregnant when
she went into labor Sept. 24.
“My obstetrician in West
Memphis called the hospital in
Memphis pleading with them to
take me. They refused because
they didn’t consider my baby a
viable life at 23 weeks.” After
8
helicopter. Jamey and I were
scared to death,” she said.
When Stilwell arrived at
UAMS, “there were so many
people that came in. I was
by myself because Jamey had
to drive, but they took such
good care of me. There must
have been about 20 doctors
and nurses that came rushing
in. It was overwhelming.”
The care at UAMS,
said Stilwell, has
been wonderful. “The
nurses in the NICU
are so caring and
you can tell they love
what they do,” she
said. “They really
keep you informed and treat
you so well. The doctors are
the same way. We saw so many,
but they all remembered us.
We would be walking down
the hallway in the hospital
and they would stop us and
ask us how we were doing.”
Because Stilwell and Nichols
couldn’t be with Maggie Jane
all the time, the nurses in
NICU took pictures of her
and kept a daily journal for
them. “They let us phone the
NICU anytime of the day or
night,” said Stilwell, “and they
would put the phone up to her
bassinet so we could talk to
her and listen to her coo.”
While Maggie Jane was
hospitalized her parents stayed
at the UAMS Family Home
in Little Rock to be close to
her. The couple has two other
children, Hannah, 17, and
Matthew, 5, and they stayed
in Osceola with family. “The
staff in the UAMS neonatal
intensive care unit asked us if
we wanted to move the baby
to a hospital closer to home,
but we declined,” Stilwell said.
“We wouldn’t trust anyone
else with her. UAMS was there
for us when others turned
us away, and without the
doctors and nurses there we
wouldn’t have Maggie Jane.”
Patient Care
at UAMS
UAMS has a long tradition of
delivering patient care dating
back to its earliest days when it
basically operated as a charity
hospital. Today, the level of care
attracts patients from all over the
state, the nation and the globe,
many of whom could choose to
go anywhere for their care.
UAMS faculty physicians provide
care at a comprehensive hospital,
six institutes and more than 120
outpatient clinics on the Little
Rock campus as well as at clinical
affiliates Arkansas Children’s
Hospital (ACH), the Central
Arkansas Veterans Healthcare
System (CAVHS) and Area Health
Education Centers (AHECs).
These affiliate hospitals provide
excellent care in exceptional
facilities. Fortune magazine
recently ranked Arkansas
Children’s Hospital in its “100
Best Companies to Work For” list.
In 2006, the Central Arkansas
Veterans Healthcare System
was named “Best in Quality”
throughout the VA System. These
hospitals also serve the UAMS
education mission by hosting
UAMS students for clinical
rotations where the students gain
hands-on experience with the latest
medical technology and by treating
real patients in supervised settings.
More than 200 UAMS physicians,
including many who practice at
Arkansas Children’s Hospital or
the Central Arkansas Veterans
Healthcare System, were named to
the 2008 “Best Doctors in America”
list issued by Best Doctors, Inc.
HOSPITAL ExPANSION
OFFERS ‘GATEWAy
TO HEALING’
One of the most exciting aspects
of progress in patient care at
UAMS is a major 540,000square-foot hospital expansion,
expected to open in early 2009.
Among the benefits for medical
caregivers, patients and visitors:
• More patient beds, all in
large, private rooms
• The movement of UAMS
patient care operations out
of its 50-year-old and outdated
original hospital building
• Separation of patient and
visitor areas to promote
a healing environment
• New neonatal intensive
care unit (NICU) with private
rooms for families
• New emergency department
featuring more space, improved
access and elevator access for
caregivers directly to the
operating room and the rooftop
helipad
• Private post partum rooms for
new mothers
• Efficient electronic medical
records system
• Convenient access to records
through computers on wheels
(affectionately called COWs).
• Wireless Internet access for staff,
patients and visitors
UAMS AMONG ‘MOST
WIREd’ HOSPITALS
In 2007, the Hospitals & Health
Networks magazine of the
American Hospital
Association named
UAMS Medical Center
one of the “100 Most
Wired Hospitals and
Health Systems” for its
use of technology. UAMS
Medical Center is one
of only 11 organizations
in the United States to
be named six times
to the “Most Wired”
list in its nine-year
history. Hospitals are
recognized for how
they use technology to
address patient care,
customer service, business
processes, work force and
public safety issues.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital
MEASURING QUALITy ANd
PATIENT SATISFACTION
UAMS strives for continuous
improvement in patient satisfaction
and quality of care. Working
with the Center for Better Health
at Vanderbilt University, the
Association of Academic Health
Centers (AAHC) and other
organizations, UAMS has
measured itself against
peer institutions and
identified opportunities
to improve the service
and care it delivers
patients and families.
Looking at a series of core
measures used by the Medicare
program to compare all hospitals,
UAMS used evidence-based data for
certain conditions that illustrate
the standard of care delivered.
Reviewing the information is
leading to new initiatives for
improving patient outcomes, such
as a new Rapid Response Team
that responds across the hospital
to try and prevent a patient
from experiencing a cardiac
arrest. Like most
hospitals, UAMS
has a “code team,”
that responds
anywhere in the
hospital when a
patient goes into
cardiac arrest.
Now, a team
also is set to
respond when
Affiliate John L. McClellan
Memorial Veterans Hospital is
part of the Central Arkansas
Veterans Healthcare System.
9
Centers of Excellence (top left, clockwise) include the
Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute,
Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Donald W. Reynolds
Institute on Aging and the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute.
The Myeloma Institute for Research & Therapy is located
in the Stephens building and the Psychiatric Research
Institute will move into a new facility in 2008.
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UAMs has a reputation as a home to many Arkansas medical
firsts and achievements. We are proud of the ability to bring
new lifesaving treatments to patients in the state. Among
recent highlights:
• First liver transplant performed in Arkansas
• Liver transplant patient survival rate at one year is 96.2 percent
compared with the expected survival rate of 89.9 percent
• Performing three times more kidney transplants than any other hospital
in Arkansas
• Kidney transplant patient survival is 96.13 percent compared with a
national survival rate of 96.08 percent
• Only hospital in Arkansas performing kidney/pancreas transplants
a patient’s condition indicates
a cardiac arrest could occur.
Patient satisfaction efforts
include using the resources of
the renowned customer service
experts at the Disney Institute
as a vehicle to inspire leadership
among employees who in turn are
committed to care that “creates
comfort, hope and healing for
our patients and families.” Called
the UAMS “Circle of Excellence,”
the initiative ensures a continued
focus by all employees on
meeting the changing needs of
patients and their families.
UAMS Institutes
UAMS’ six institutes – the Donald
W. Reynolds Institute on Aging,
Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer
Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones
Eye Institute, Myeloma Institute for
Therapy and Research, Psychiatric
Research Institute and Jackson T.
Stephens Spine & Neurosciences
Institute – represent a convergence
of patient care, research and
outreach targeting a specific cause.
Each UAMS institute boasts a staff
of nationally and internationally
known clinicians and researchers,
ensuring that patients receive the
latest in treatments. The institutes
and other research efforts at
UAMS annually attract millions in
research grants and other funding
from organizations such as the
National Institutes of Health.
The new Psychiatric Research
Institute building, opening in late
2008, will include 40 inpatient
beds. It will be the first time in 30
years that inpatient psychiatric care
has been available on the UAMS
campus, improving access and
convenience when patients need
immediate mental health care.
• Patient care represents
68 percent of UAMs income.
• 7,000 stem cell transplants performed for treatment of multiple
myeloma
• Treats more multiple myeloma patients than any other facility in the
country
• Five-year survival rates at the Myeloma Institute greater than
65 percent – nearly twice the average of any other treatment facility
• Survival rate in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is higher than
the rates for comparable facilities nationwide
• NICU provides state-of-the-art care for many of Arkansas’ tiniest infants
– some weighing less than 2 pounds and requiring hospitalization for
weeks or months
• Only high-risk pregnancy program in Arkansas and only board-certified
maternal fetal specialists
• Nationally recognized telemedicine program to address rural health
care disparities and improve obstetrical and neonatal care across
Arkansas – Antenatal & Neonatal Guidelines, Education and Learning
System (ANGELS)
• Performed a successful total-knee replacement on a
100-year-old woman
• 26 percent of patient
care income comes
from outside Arkansas.
• Created a system to wirelessly transmit heart monitor data from the
ambulance to a heart care specialists – expected to significantly
reduce the time a patient experiencing a heart attack receives treatment
• in the past three years,
UAMs has seen patients
from every Arkansas
county, all 50 states and
51 countries.
• Performed robotic surgery for prostate, colon and female reproductive
system cancers as well as hysterectomies
• One of only 25 Oculus Pentacam cameras in United States now at
Jones Eye Institute, which improves pre-operative planning and more
accurate diagnosis of problems in the early stage
• Heart Center at UAMS affiliate Arkansas Children’s Hospital among the
top five in the country for its pediatric heart transplant program
• One of only 33 MDA/Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Research
and Clinical Centers in the country as designated by the Muscular
Dystrophy Association
• Only adult cystic fibrosis center in Arkansas
11
To search: Scientific discovery and research
Claudia Jessup’s life has taken
her in many directions.
Twenty years ago, she and her
husband, Jonathan Richards,
moved their young family from New
York to Santa Fe, N.M. Jessup, an
author, and Richards, a journalist
and cartoonist, knew they could
relocate their careers cross
country with relative ease, while
also giving their two daughters
a safer and more child-friendly
environment in which to grow up.
“We originally just moved to
Santa Fe for one year, but we never
left,” said Jessup, whose books
include “The Woman’s Guide
to Starting A Business,” written
under her name, and “Tender
Offerings” and “Bare Essence”
written under the pseudonym
12
Meredith Rich. “Bare Essence”
was later adapted into a television
mini-series and weekly series.
Then, in 2005, the family found
a new home away from home
— although this time it was by
necessity instead of choice.
While lifting a holiday package in
December 2004, Jessup felt a “pop”
in her back. At first, she dismissed
it as a minor injury. When the
pain persisted and worsened, she
went to the doctor. “I was told
that I had a compression fracture
in my spine and was put on bed
rest,” she said. It didn’t help.
An MRI revealed not one but
several fractured vertebrae. On
March 2, 2005, Jessup entered the
hospital due to extreme pain.
While hospitalized, she was
diagnosed with multiple
myeloma, a cancer that affects
the plasma cells. Among other
symptoms, multiple myeloma
causes calcium to be leached
from the bones, often resulting
in compression fractures.
a life in Little Rock based around
Jessup’s treatment schedule.
Because her mother had
been diagnosed with
multiple myeloma years
earlier, Jessup was already
Jessup underwent a stem cell
transplant in June and another in
September, after which she was
in complete remission. Although
somewhat familiar with
the severity of the disease.
they continue to return to UAMS
for regular checkups, Jessup and
Richards are back to their normal
lives in New Mexico, where she
is toying with the idea of writing
a book about her experience.
“My doctor knew that
Santa Fe didn’t have a
facility equipped to treat
me,” she said. “The day I
was diagnosed, my doctor
e-mailed Dr. Barlogie in Little
Rock. I was told that he could
accept me the following day.” Bart
Barlogie, M.D., Ph.D., is director
of the Myeloma Institute for
Research and Therapy at UAMS.
Jessup and Richards arrived by
air ambulance at UAMS, where
she quickly began undergoing
tests and chemotherapy. After
an initial hospitalization, Jessup
and Richards worked with Jo
Smith, UAMS director of special
services, to locate a rental house.
Richards returned to Santa Fe for
their dog, and the couple set up
“I knew I was in good hands the
second I got here. Everyone here
is extraordinary, from the doctors
and nurses to the patient care
techs and secretaries,” she said.
“Going through all of this has
taught me total surrender,” she
said. “I’m so glad that I totally put
myself in the hands of UAMS.”
Research at UAMS
Medical and scientific research
at UAMS has a long history of
contributing to better health
care for Arkansas as well as
contributing to the base of
scientific knowledge. As the
state’s premier center of research
and the hub for scientific and
medical innovation, UAMS also
is positioned to provide patients
in Arkansas early access to
potentially lifesaving or lifeextending treatments through
clinical research trials. These
trials keep patients from having
to travel outside Arkansas to
receive the newest medical
treatments while attracting many
out-of-state patients to UAMS.
UAMS ranks in the top 20
percent of the nation’s colleges
and universities for the amount
of research funding it receives
from the federal government.
Basic Science Is Basic
To All Research
UAMS conducts a large volume of
basic science research in addition
to the clinical trials. Basic science
research explores fundamental
processes, such as cell function
or genetic mechanisms not
necessarily related to specific
medical problems. Basic science
discoveries often can be developed
into new medical treatments
that move onto clinical research
with human subjects.
Examples of the many varied
basic science research projects at
UAMS include the work of Robert
Shmookler Reis, professor in the
UAMS Departments of Geriatrics,
Biochemistry/Molecular Biology
and Pharmacology/Toxicology,
who has reported a 10-fold life
extension in the complex animal
C. elegans, tiny worms that
live in the soil. C. elegans are
barely visible to the eye but are
helping scientists unravel the
causes of aging and understand
what determines life span.
Kevin Raney, Ph.D., directs
the Proteomics Facility at
UAMS, which is home to
mass spectrometers and
other instruments that allow
researchers to examine behaviors
of proteins, since diseases like
cancer change proteins in the
body in some of the earliest
stages of development. His work
has looked at these protein
“fingerprints” of disease, which
could lead to earlier detection.
Much of the research conducted
at UAMS is in a hub of three
facilities: the Barton Research
Building, which when completed
in 1961 with 59 labs was the
first home to research on the
UAMS campus; the Biomedical
Research Building 1, completed
in 1993 with 75 labs that
house work in areas such as
cancer, eye disease, substance
abuse and Alzheimer’s disease;
and the Biomedical Research
Building 2, which added another
104 labs and support services
when completed in 2004.
The facilities provide access
to the latest in research
tools for work that improves
detection, prevention and
treatment of disease.
Including these and other
campus labs, UAMS has
more than 500,000 square
feet devoted to research.
World Leadership in
Multiple Myeloma
Research And Treatment
The Myeloma Institute for
Research and Therapy has grown
into the world’s foremost center
for treating multiple myeloma,
a cancer of the blood’s plasma,
and related disorders. Its unique
treatment protocols – developed
by MIRT director Bart Barlogie,
M.D., Ph.D., and his team – are
bolstered by continuingly evolving
techniques and approaches.
Barlogie’s success in finding
new ways to fight multiple
myeloma earned him selection
as one of three national
Physicians of the Year in 2006.
Since fiscal year 2000,
myeloma research at UAMS has
attracted an average of $5.3
million annually in federal
and private grants, as well
as funds for clinical trials.
Research highlights
include:
• Found that tandem
blood stem cell transplants
together with a chemotherapy
regimen led to higher survival
and remission rates
• Assembled a database of 3,000
samples of bone marrow and
19,000 tissue samples for use by
researchers to identify the genetic
mechanisms of multiple myeloma
• First to identify the molecular
trigger for birth defects caused by
the drug thalidomide, a discovery
by researcher John Shaughnessy,
Ph.D., that also could be the
mechanism that makes it effective
against multiple myeloma
• Identified that multiple
myeloma had seven genetic
subtypes, another Shaughnessy
finding that could lead to targeted
treatments for specific patients
• Developed a genetic analysis
tool that outperformed current
clinical tests for identifying
patients with a more aggressive
form of multiple myeloma
• Documented the first transfer
of an immune response in a
healthy individual to a patient
with multiple myeloma – the
healthy participant’s twin who
is now in remission, showing
promise for cancer vaccination
UAMS TAKES ON
DRUG ADDICTION
The UAMS Center for Addiction
Research, in the Psychiatric
Research Institute, has attracted
more than $10 million in NIH
funding for projects that seek
to identify the mechanisms
of drug addiction and develop
more effective treatments.
Use of computer-based treatment
13
14
In 2007, Bioventures opened the
Entergy Life Sciences Laboratory,
a first of its kind lab for the state,
specially designed for making
$70,000,000
$60,000,000
$50,000,000
$40,000,000
$30,000,000
$20,000,000
$10,000,000
$0
2003
2004
UAMS
2005
ACHRI
2006
Other Arkansas NIH Grants
2007
Total Arkansas NIH Grants
ACHRI (Arkansas Children’s Hospital Research Institute)
uams Bioventures
2001
2002
2003
2004
370
$16.0
$12.0
249
316
$20.0
370
400
350 New jobs projected - 370
300
Annual payroll - $18.1 million
250
Average salary - $49,000
200
150
100
50
0
1997 1998 1999 2000
139
Also studying drug addiction is
pharmacologist S. Michael Owens,
Ph.D., director of the UAMS Center
for Alcohol and Drug Abuse and
a professor in the Department of
Pharmacology and Toxicology
in the College of Medicine. He
invented antibody treatments for
addiction that blunt the harmful
effects of the drugs on the brain
and could help recovering addicts
resist using drugs again. Initially,
Owens and his partners, including
UAMS’ Brooks Gentry, M.D.,
developed the treatment for use
against the drug phencyclidine, or
PCP, but he has now expanded the
technology for use in combating
addiction to methamphetamine,
amphetamine and ecstasy.
BENCH TO BEDSIDE TO
MARKET - Bioventures
UAMS Bioventures, the state’s only
biomedical business incubator,
has both an economic and
scientific impact – creating new
businesses and moving scientific
discoveries from the laboratory
bench to the patient’s bedside.
UAMS discoveries fostered at
Bioventures include an antibacterial spray (Safe Foods) used
in the war against food-borne
illnesses; an online medical
consultation service (eDOC
America); and a motorized
Bicycle Exercise Trainer for
use by spinal cord injury
victims. Recently, Chia Lee,
Ph.D., a professor in the UAMS
Department of Microbiology and
Immunology, worked through
Bioventures to license the rights
to a bacterial strain that may lead
to a vaccine for certain antibiotic
resistant bacterial infections.
UAMS Forges Research
Collaborations
UAMS also collaborates
with researchers at other
universities within the state.
• UAMS, the University of
Arkansas, Fayetteville, the
University of Arkansas at
Little Rock (UALR) and seven
Arkansas partner institutions
in 2005 received a five-year,
$16.7 million federal grant
from the NIH to expand and
improve biomedical research in
63
Warren Bickel, Ph.D., director
of the Center for Addiction
Research, has been praised for
his research into the underlying
behavioral processes of drug
dependence in humans and
finding novel, cost-effective
ways to deliver treatment, such
as computer-based treatment.
Bickel is one of 45 scientists
recruited to Arkansas with
funding from the state’s Tobacco
Settlement Proceeds Act of 2000.
the state. The award followed
a four-year, $9.3 million grant
funded in 2001 to create the
Arkansas Biomedical Research
Infrastructure Network.
• UAMS joined with Arkansas
Children’s Hospital, Arkansas
State University, the University
of Arkansas Division of
Agriculture and the University
of Arkansas, Fayetteville, to
create the Arkansas Biosciences
Institute as the major research
component of the voter-approved
tobacco settlement plan. The
ABI focuses on agricultural,
basic and clinical scientific
research that will lead to health
improvement, especially in the
area of tobacco-related diseases.
15
for drug abuse and probing the
behaviors that drive addiction to
marijuana, alcohol and nicotine
has shed new light on abuse of
drugs, both legal and illegal.
The funding includes a fiveyear, $6.6 million grant from
the National Center for Minority
Health Disparities, a program
of the NIH, and a $4 million
five-year extension of a Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation grant
to evaluate the implementation of
Arkansas Act 1220 of 2003, which
established a statewide schoolbased intervention to address
the childhood obesity epidemic.
drugs used in clinical trials. The
lab allows UAMS drug researchers
to take their discoveries one more
step toward the marketplace
without leaving campus.
3
RESEARCH GRANTS
DESIGNED TO
IMPROVE HEALTH
The Fay W. Boozman College
of Public Health secured
research grants totaling more
than $20 million in 2008.
$8.0
$4.0
2005
2006
2007
$0.0
UAMS Researchers Excel
• UAMS researchers led by Philip Kern, M.D., creator of the successful UAMS
Weight Loss Program, are now part of a campus-wide, multi-institution effort
that will transform how clinical and translational research is conducted in
Arkansas. He will be the principal investigator and founding director of a
comprehensive new research center at UAMS.
Using a planning grant from the NIH, the researchers are seeking ways to
speed the translation of basic scientific discoveries into better medicine and
health care practices through collaboration, better information technology
and other strategies.
Kern’s work studying the chemical mechanisms of fat cells earned him a
highly selective MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) Award from the
NIH in 2006, funding his research with up to $2.79 million over 10 years.
• William J. Evans, Ph.D., director of the Nutrition, Metabolism and Exercise
Laboratory in the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, led a research team
that reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2007
that extended bed rest – often necessary during hospitalization – leads to
a substantial amount of muscle deterioration in older adults. Evans, who
also has served as an expert adviser to the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), and his team are now examining strategies including
nutrition supplements and exercise that could prevent the muscle loss.
• Sue Griffin, Ph.D., vice chairman of basic research at the Donald W.
Reynolds Institute on Aging, published a landmark study in 1989 linking the
overexpression of certain soluble proteins called cytokines in the brain and
Alzheimer’s disease. Her research helped pave the way for ongoing study
into the mechanisms that cause the degenerative disease.
• Jean C. McSweeney, Ph.D., R.N., in the UAMS College of Nursing, found
that women may experience warning signs of heart disease months before
they experience their heart attack. Heart disease - not cancer, as many
erroneously believe - is the leading cause of death in women in the United
States and in Arkansas.
breast cancer treatment – lymphedema or swelling of the arms due to
faulty drainage of the lymph nodes. Klimberg also is principal investigator
in a large-scale trial of an osteoporosis drug’s effectiveness that showed
promising signs in reducing breast cancer risk for postmenopausal women at
increased risk of the disease.
• UAMS research pharmacist Bill Gurley, Ph.D., developed a skin cream now
marketed as Dr. Teatrie’s Omnibalm that can be used to soothe sunburns and
other skin problems. In his more than 15 years at UAMS, Gurley established
himself as the nation’s foremost expert on the dangers of the weight loss
drug ephedra. His research, court testimony and national media exposure
helped lead to the 2004 FDA ban on ephedra-based supplements.
• Martin Hauer-Jensen, M.D., Ph.D, received a MERIT Award in 2008 through the
NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) for his work in radiation research, becoming
just the fourth UAMS faculty member to receive a MERIT Award and the first
in Arkansas to receive a MERIT Award from the NCI. The NIH only awards a
limited number of these annually as a way to reward scientific achievement and
productivity with research funding for an extended period of time.
Previous MERIT Award recipients at UAMS include Kern, for his research into
the chemical processes of fat cells; Donald M. Mock, M.D., Ph.D., for his
research into how the micronutrient biotin may affect fetal development; and
Warren Bickel, Ph.D., for his addiction research.
• Osteoporosis expert Stavros Manolagas, M.D., Ph.D., is working toward
a treatment that will not just stop the bone-weakening disease but also
rebuild bone. In 2002, his research team first identified a synthetic
hormone, estren, which has strengthened bones in mice without the
possible side effects of the traditional treatment of hormone replacement.
Under Manolagas’ leadership, the UAMS Division of Endocrinology and
Metabolism and the Center for Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Disease
has grown from a faculty of five to 31 and from a budget of less than
$50,000 to more than $5.8 million. The Osteoporosis Center has become
one of the largest research units of its kind in the United States with about
40 scientists and almost $50 million in research funding.
• UAMS breast cancer surgeon V. Suzanne Klimberg, M.D., developed a
procedure to prevent one of the most common side effects associated with
15
To Serve: Extension of services to Arkansas and Beyond
Since childhood, Jonathan
Lewis, M.D. wanted to be a
doctor so that he could take
care of the folks he grew up
with in south Arkansas.
He’s living his dream thanks
in part to a system that was put
practices, which had left the
state critically short of primary
care doctors in rural areas.
Today there are eight AHECs
and almost 600 AHECeducated family medicine
doctors who practice in nearly
in El Dorado, Fayetteville/
Springdale, Fort Smith,
Helena-West Helena, Jonesboro,
Pine Bluff, Texarkana and
Batesville/Mountain Home.
Although Lewis’ goal always was
to practice in rural Arkansas,
he’s seen other doctors make
the same choice as a result of
their residency experience.
These satellites to the UAMS
campus will become even more
important as the state faces
an increasing health care
work force shortage. Studies
have shown physicians
are increasingly likely
to continue their careers
in the area where they
complete their residency.
“I can think of at least three
other doctors — one from
Syria — who are practicing
down here,” Lewis said.
“They would never be here
if they hadn’t served their
residencies in El Dorado.”
As for Lewis, after receiving
his medical degree at
UAMS, he completed a
required three-year family
medicine residency in
El Dorado, the AHEC
nearest his hometown.
in place two years before the
Mount Holly native was born.
The Arkansas Legislature in
1973 established five Area
Health Education Centers
(AHECs) across the state
to support UAMS’ efforts
to produce family practice
physicians and expand its
teaching mission. With
support from then-Gov. Dale
Bumpers and the Legislature,
UAMS’ goal was to respond
to a trend toward specialty
16
every Arkansas county. As
envisioned 33 years ago,
many of them settled near the
AHEC where they completed
their three-year residencies.
Today, the AHECs educate
a variety of health care
professionals, and their roles
have expanded to include more
preventive care, such as tobacco
cessation, diabetes screening
and management, public health
preparedness and healthy
lifestyles. The AHECs are located
“Having the ability to train
in an area where you’re going
to practice gives you a chance
to make connections with
the doctors you’re going to be
working with, and you get a
sense of the medical climate,”
said Lewis, who works at a
Camden clinic only 30 miles
from his hometown. “It’s not
as tough of a transition as if
you were to come straight out
of Little Rock to a small town.”
Outreach
at UA MS
As the state’s only comprehensive
academic health sciences
university, UAMS looks beyond
its campus in its mission
to improve the health of
Arkansans. Its array of outreach
programs encompasses its
education, patient care and
research efforts and extends
UAMS’ reach across the state.
With the 2006 creation
of the Center for Distance
Health, UAMS combined these
telehealth programs with the
successful ANGELS (Antenatal
and Neonatal Guidelines,
Education and Learning
System) program. Through
ANGELS, UAMS’ maternalfetal specialists can provide
Telehealth’s links extend to
more than 280 sites in the state.
The Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) announced
a $4.2 million grant to an
alliance of health care programs
including UAMS for a threeyear project to improve health
care access in rural Arkansas.
From community health
screenings to clinics in its
Area Health Education Centers
(AHECs); from its Kids First
day programs for children
with serious health and
developmental needs to its
network of centers that are part
of the Arkansas Aging Initiative,
UAMS is making a difference
in the lives of Arkansans
throughout the state every day.
UAMS Adds Eighth AHEC
In 2007, UAMS announced
plans for an eighth AHEC. AHEC
North Central is the first AHEC
located within two community
colleges – the University of
Arkansas Community College
at Batesville and Arkansas State
University Mountain Home.
In addition to its partnership
with the local colleges, it works
closely with the White River
Medical Center in Batesville and
the Baxter Regional Medical
Center in Mountain Home.
Reaching Out at a
Distance Through
Technology
In addition to the AHECs,
UAMS Regional Programs
include the Rural Hospital
Program and a growing list
of telehealth programs.
long-distance consultation
to primary care doctors and
their high-risk pregnancy
patients all over Arkansas.
The center is moving to use
telemedicine to attack health
care disparities across the
state. Establishment of a
stroke network will allow
emergency room doctors
in the state to consult with
neurologists when treating
patients with stroke symptoms.
Telehealth also has become
a critical tool for UAMS’
specialists assisting primary
care doctors in other towns
with real-time consultations.
Doctors on campus can view
results of diagnostic tests, such
as ultrasounds, along with a
doctor and patient at the AHEC
in Fayetteville, for example.
The grant to the Arkansas
Telehealth Network under the
Rural Health Care Pilot Program
will consolidate and expand
existing public and private
nonprofit telehealth networks.
The funds will allow medical
information and education to
be delivered across the voice
and high-speed data network
to nearly 800 locations.
ANGELS Receives
National Acclaim
ANGELS, a partnership between
UAMS, the Arkansas Department
of Human Services’ Medicaid
Program, and the Arkansas
Medical Society, received the
2007 American Telemedicine
Association’s President’s Award
for Innovation for its use of
telemedicine to reduce the
number of babies born with
severe medical problems.
ANGELS was the brainchild
of UAMS maternal-fetal
specialist Curtis Lowery, M.D.
UAMS Head Start
Program Serves
Children in Need
UAMS oversees the Pulaski
County Head Start/Early Head
Start programs, which serve
1,130 children at 23 facilities
around the county. Head Start
helps prepare young children
for school, providing them with
the learning skills and medical
assistance necessary to keep
them on an equal footing.
Head Start also provides such
services as education, dental,
health, nutrition, mental
health and referrals for parents
to community resources.
Public Education,
Health Screenings
UAMS provides public education
through seminars and health
screenings hosted on its Little
Rock campus and at locations
around the state. Seminars
help individuals, families and
groups such as seniors on
issues ranging from fertility to
diabetes and from Alzheimer’s
disease to bone health. UAMS
hosts infant and child care
classes to prepare mothers for
the birth of a baby; weight loss
seminars; and support groups
for families coping with chronic
or life-threatening disease.
Health screenings promote
early detection of diseases
such as breast cancer, prostate
cancer and other conditions
through programs operated by
the College of Public Health’s
Witness Project and the Cancer
Control Outreach Program
of the UAMS Winthrop P.
Rockefeller Cancer Institute.
17
Outreach Programs
Support Older
Arkansans
The UAMS Donald W. Reynolds
Institute on Aging not only
provides clinical care, education
and research through programs
housed in its building on the
UAMS campus but it provides
those same services through
unique programs that touch
older adults and, in some
situations, their caregivers
throughout the state. Two of
those programs are the Arkansas
Aging Initiative and HouseCall.
HouseCall Program
When Delbra Caradine, M.D.,
rings the doorbell, it’s not
just for an ordinary visit.
Caradine is one of a rare breed:
She is a doctor who still makes
patients in central Arkansas
who rely on her for their
primary health care needs.
“This is one of the most
rewarding jobs as a physician,”
Caradine said. “The patients
are so appreciative. They can’t
believe this service is available.”
Arkansas Aging Initiative
When UAMS opened the
Schmieding Center for Senior
Health and Education in
Springdale in 1999, a new
chapter in the life of Arkansas’
older adults was begun.
The center was the springboard
for the creation of the Arkansas
Aging Initiative (AAI), a network
of eight centers on aging
located throughout Arkansas.
“With the Arkansas
Aging Initiative, we
have transformed the
state of Arkansas into
a laboratory in which
to study, educate and
provide clinical care
to older adults,” said
Claudia Beverly, Ph.D.,
R.N., AAI director.
house calls. In fact, treating
patients in their homes is all
Caradine does. Medical director
of the aptly named HouseCall
Program of the Institute on
Aging, Caradine has about 200
18
Each center includes
a senior health clinic
and an education
program designed to
improve the quality of
life for seniors and their
families. Strategically
located throughout the
state, the centers offer
quality geriatric health
services to 90 percent of
Arkansas seniors within
a 60-mile radius of their home
through a partnership with the
local or regional hospital. It is
the only such network of centers
on aging in the United States.
In addition to Springdale (with
satellite locations in Mountain
Home, Harrison and Bella
Vista), centers are located
in Texarkana, El Dorado,
Hot Springs, Jonesboro, Pine
Bluff, Fort Smith and West
Memphis, with a satellite
center in Helena-West Helena.
Funding for the AAI is provided
through Arkansas’ share of the
national tobacco settlement.
UAMS Leads Charge
Against Childhood
Obesity
UAMS joined with the Arkansas
Department of Health and
Human Services (DHHS) and
Arkansas BlueCross BlueShield
in 1998 to establish the Arkansas
Center for Health Improvement
(ACHI), a nonpartisan,
independent health policy
center. Its mission is to serve
as a catalyst for improving the
health of Arkansans through
evidence-based research, public
issue advocacy and collaborative
program development.
G. Richard Smith, M.D., a
professor and chairman of the
UAMS Department of Psychiatry,
was the founding director of the
program. He was succeeded in
2003 by Joe Thompson, M.D.,
M.P.H., associate professor in
the colleges of Medicine and
Public Health. In addition,
Thompson serves as advocate
for health care issues as the
state’s surgeon general.
ACHI’s Arkansas School BMI
Assessment Project, which targets
the state’s obesity epidemic, was
chosen in 2005 as one of 10
nationwide winners of the Third
Annual Innovation in Prevention
Awards presented by the U.S.
Department of Health and
Human Services. The project,
which involved measuring
the body mass index (BMI)
of Arkansas schoolchildren
to determine overweight and
obesity, is dedicated to providing
approaches that bring families,
schools and communities
together to combat the obesity
epidemic. Arkansas was the
first state to undertake such
a comprehensive assessment
of children’s health.
College of Pharmacy
Helps Medicaid
Patients
In just over two years, a UAMS
and state Department of Human
Services (DHS) program whose
priority is selecting the best
quality of drugs for the state’s
Medicaid patients also has saved
Medicaid more than $38 million.
DHS started the Arkansas
Evidence-Based Prescription
Drug Program in 2005 and
partnered with the College of
Pharmacy to analyze clinical
data on drug effectiveness.
Poison Control Center
Answers the Call
The Arkansas Poison Control
Center, operated by the College
of Pharmacy, answered more
than 35,000 calls in 2007. The
center is one of only about 60
in the nation to be certified
by the American Association
of Poison Control Centers.
KIdS FIRST Offers Early
Help to Kids in Need
Shortly after her birth, Kevin and
Jenny Thompson were told that
their daughter, Ella, had Down
syndrome.
The pastor of Community Bible
Church in Fort Smith, Kevin
Thompson turned to church
members and friends for advice
on Ella’s best treatment options.
“My personal research showed
that early intervention was key,”
he said. After visiting some
facilities specializing in the care
of children with special medical
needs, the couple decided to
entrust Ella’s care to UAMS’ KIDS
FIRST. “We were immediately
impressed by their program,”
Thompson said. “The teachers
have an absolute desire to see
these children succeed.”
KIDS FIRST got its start in
the 1980s as a multi-state
collaborative research study to
determine the effects of early
intervention on low-birth-weight
babies. When the original
study showed positive effects
on behavior and cognitive
development, three UAMS
researchers decided to develop an
ongoing program to serve even
more children.
“Intervention isn’t like
immunization where you just
give them one shot early in life,”
said Patrick Casey, M.D., KIDS
FIRST medical director and one
of the original researchers.
“The kids in our program learn
how to learn. The way they
learn to interact with adults is
influenced and carries over with
long-term beneficial results.”
With input from their parents,
each child is put on an
individualized plan based on his
or her medical condition and
developmental needs. The staff
works daily to help the children
achieve their goals, which can
include such areas as language,
cognition or gross motor skills.
UAMS Department of Pediatrics.
The target population is children
ages 6 weeks to 4 years who have
special health care needs.
Ella turned three in July 2008
and her teacher and parents are
excited about her progress. She
augments her rapidly growing
vocabulary with sign language
she was exposed to at KIDS
FIRST, starting when she was
just a few months old.
“KIDS FIRST has shown absolute
care and compassion. They
wowed us at a time when we
really needed to be wowed,”
Kevin said.
Today, KIDS FIRST is operated
at 11 clinics in Arkansas by the
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Phil anthropy: Imagine the Futur e of HealthCar e
Philanthropy
at UAMS
Much of the growth at UAMS is
made possible by the generous gifts
and support of some pretty amazing
donors. There are major gifts such
as those from the late Jackson
T. Stephens to build the 12-floor
Stephens Spine & Neurosciences
Institute building or Harvey and
Bernice Jones to build the Jones Eye
Institute or Pat and Willard Walker
for building the original Cancer
Institute building and the Donald
W. Reynolds Foundation to build
the Reynolds Institute on Aging
facility and endow the geriatrics
program. There are valuable small
contributions by donors or paycheck
deductions by employees. UAMS
is lucky to have such an array of
support.
Philanthropy has supported
building projects at UAMS
throughout its history, including
the most recent construction
such as the UAMS Medical Center
expansion, Winthrop P. Rockefeller
Cancer Institute, a five-floor
expansion to the Jones Eye Institute
and the Psychiatric Research
Institute (PRI).
The PRI will include the Dierks
Research Laboratories that will
honor the gift of Fred and Louise
Dierks, while the Walker Family
Clinic will honor the gift from the
Pat and Willard Walker Charitable
Foundation.
The Grand Laboratory in the
Myeloma Institute for Therapy
and Research honors a gift
by Stephen and Nancy Grand
of San Francisco that made
possible establishment of a oneof-a-kind laboratory for research
into the genetic profile of multiple
myeloma.
20
A $15 million gift from Pat Walker
of Springdale made the Jones Eye
Institute expansion possible. The
addition, which opened in 2006,
doubled the size of the facility and
allowed it to expand its education,
patient care, research and outreach
programs and develop new ones.
A $12 million gift to the Cancer
Institute from the Winthrop
Rockefeller Foundation made
possible creation of a new
leukemia/ lymphoma program and
in part funded a 12-floor expansion
to the institute scheduled to open
in 2010.
Campaign Imagine, the first
comprehensive fundraising
campaign for UAMS in a decade,
started in January 2007. The effort
has a goal of raising more than
$320 million by 2010.
UAMS faculty and staff contributions
to Campaign Imagine in 2007
topped more than $1.1 million.
UAMS also has many small gifts
and memorials made each year.
More than 7,700 gifts, pledge
payments and payroll deductions
of $50 or less were received during
fiscal year 2007.
Out-of-state donors contribute to
UAMS as well, with more than $5
million coming from out-of-state
supporters from 2004-2007.
Supporters Volunteer
Time, Money
Many groups regularly give their
time as well as financial support by
organizing fundraising events in
support of UAMS and its programs.
From the Julep Cup Jaunt to support
UAMS Medical Center to the Tiny
Hands Monster Bash in support
of the UAMS Family Home, UAMS
has been fortunate to have a wide
network of friends.
In recent years, many young
professionals also have reached
out to support UAMS. A group of
former patients of obstetrician Paul
Wendel, M.D., joined to establish
an endowment in maternalfetal medicine in his name. The
UAMS Consortium, a group of
young professionals and business
executives, has organized events
like the Julep Cup Jaunt.
The Winthrop P. Rockfeller Cancer
Institute Auxiliary organizes events
like the Cooks Tour and programs
like the Partners Card in support of
the institute’s clinical, research and
teaching efforts.
Aromatique, the candle and home
decorations company owned by
Patti and Dick Upton of Heber
Springs, has donated items for an
annual holiday sale on the UAMS
campus for 13 years. The sales
have raised more than $900,000 to
support the UAMS Auxiliary and its
programs.
Gifts Endow Chairs,
Attracting New
Clinicians, Teachers
and Researchers
An endowed chair is the highest
academic honor that can be
bestowed by a university on its
faculty, dating back to the early
1500s at Oxford and Cambridge
universities in England. An endowed
chair at UAMS is supported with
designated gifts of $1 million or
more. A donor may name a chair in
memory of a loved one or to honor a
person’s accomplishments.
2
7
3
8
There are 65 endowed chairs either
in UAMS colleges or held by a
UAMS faculty member at affiliate
Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
photo shown facing Page
1) (Left to right seated) Brenda Fulkerson, Frances Shackleford, Jane Wilson and (standing) Jeane Hamilton enjoy the annual Julep Cup Jaunt sponsored by the UAMS Consortium.
photos shown this page
2) Lee Ronnel
3) Don Munro and Cindy Pugh
4) Eva Rand (standing) and Pat Walker
5) Dick Trammel and Craig Wood
6) (Front row from left) Doyle “Rog” Rogers and his wife, Carolyn; Raye Rogers; Barbara and Paul W. Hoover, Jr. (Back row from left) Richard Pierson, UAMS vice chancellor for clinical programs, and Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D.
7) Debbie Walker
8) Joe and JoEllen Ford
9) Laura Hutchins, M.D.
4
5
9
6
21
Building for a Healthy Future
Construction
at UAMS
UAMS is in the midst of a
significant period of growth,
adding new facilities and
expanding existing buildings to
allow it to treat more patients,
educate more students and host
more research. By 2008, UAMS
facilities encompassed more than
3.6 million square feet. The series
of construction projects started in
2005 and stretching through 2010
are expected to add more than
1.2 million square feet to the
Little Rock campus.
• The UAMS hospital expansion
will provide improved access
to medical care through new
patient rooms, a new emergency
department, clinical lab and
radiology department along with
room to expand other services.
It also will allow UAMS to move
patient care out of the outdated,
more than 50-year-old original
hospital building that it has
outgrown.
The vacated space will be used to
bring some UAMS programs back
on campus that had been forced
out due to a lack of space.
• The UAMS Psychiatric
Construction at UAMS impacts the
economy directly and indirectly.
Because of the construction work
alone, more than 700 people
work each day on the various
construction projects worth more
than $450 million. One company
brought in 163 contractors and
vendors, 19 of whom are from out
of state, meaning they will require
accommodations in the area
while working on the projects.
Research Institute will allow
UAMS to better focus on
patient care by consolidating
all psychiatric clinicians,
researchers and educators in
one building. Currently, the
Department of Psychiatry is
scattered among 13 locations in
central Arkansas, serving about
8,700 patients monthly.
A significant portion of the money
invested in the construction
projects stays in Arkansas, spent
on supplies, equipment and labor.
The five-floor, 100,000-squarefoot Psychiatric Research
Institute will incorporate 40
inpatient beds, an outpatient
clinic, research areas, classrooms
22
and administrative space. It
will be the first time in 30 years
that inpatient psychiatric care
has been available on the UAMS
campus, improving access and
convenience when patients need
immediate care.
• The 12-floor expansion to
the Winthrop P. Rockefeller
Cancer Institute will include a
more welcoming, spacious and
environmentally conscious facility
– allowing UAMS to treat more
patients and host more research.
The number of patient visits has
continued to exceed predictions,
including 120,000 visits in fiscal
year 2007. The growth is due in
part to new patients from across
Arkansas and around the world,
but also because of access to new
life-prolonging treatments based
on research conducted at the
Cancer Institute.
The larger facility also will
house the Myeloma Institute for
Research and Therapy, which
had outgrown its space in the
Cancer Institute previously and
had to be moved.
• The new Education West
Building was funded as part of
a bond program approved by
Arkansas voters in November
2006. Now open, it provides
much-needed classroom
space for expanding academic
programs at UAMS.
The 43,000-square-foot, two-story
building includes 16 classrooms
and two 232-seat auditoriums.
• The new West Central Energy
Plant features a slate of energysaving measures expected to save
UAMS and others $3.5 million
a year.
The plant was built to provide
utility service to newly
constructed and existing facilities
on campus. It also provides
utility service to the nearby
Arkansas State Hospital and
electrical service to the Arkansas
Department of Health campus.
Hospital expansion to be complete January 2009
Cancer Institute expansion due for
completion in 2010
New Psychiatric Research Institute to open in 2008
23
UA MS eConoMiC iMPACt
Economic Impact
at UAMS
UAMS is dedicated to improving
lives through better health.
Better health care in Arkansas
can improve the state’s economic
health as measured in terms
of revenue, jobs, business and
industry growth.
“People want and
need to be near good
health care. doing
more to support
UAMS will pay huge
dividends for us
in the future.”
Warren Stephens
Chief executive officer
Stephens inc. of little rock
As the state’s only academic
medical center, UAMS is primarily
concerned with physical and
mental health through its
missions of education, patient
care, research and outreach.
But UAMS also represents more
than $1 billion a year in revenue,
employs almost 10,000 faculty
and staff, attracts $60 million a
year in nationally funded research
and serves as a business incubator
for startup companies with
$18.1 million in annual payroll.
Even though state funding to
UAMS nearly tripled from 1985 to
2008, total revenue grew
eight times that, to more than
$1 billion. The percentage of
funding from state general
revenue declined from 35 percent
to 11 percent during that period.
coverage. When possible, UAMS
works with these patients to set
up reasonable payment plans.
Charity and unreimbursed care,
which was $101 million in fiscal
2007, is another way UAMS is
improving the state of health care
in Arkansas.
UAMS expenditures have a
direct impact on primary
industry groups with purchases
made for construction, capital
improvements, goods and services,
as well as purchases made by
its employees, patients, visitors,
students and resident physicians.
There is an indirect impact in
the revenue created for local
businesses and jobs plus the
spending of these businesses’
employees.
UAMS is part of a stable industry.
The nation’s health care market is
estimated to be worth $1.3 trillion
annually and employs 11 million
after adding 2 million jobs in the
1990s. The industry’s employment
is expected to grow 25 percent by
2010, to 14 million. The growing
elderly population can be reflected
in the growing need for health
care, with economic experts
predicting the health care industry
to have continued job growth.
UAMS and its clinical/teaching
affiliates, Arkansas Children’s
Hospital and the Central Arkansas Regardless of Arkansas’ economic
Veterans Healthcare System, had
conditions, UAMS has continued
combined expenditures of more
to grow and provide jobs. When
than $1.7 billion
in fiscal year 2006- uams revenue
2007.
True to its
historical roots as
a charity hospital,
UAMS continues
to provide care to
patients who are
uninsured or do
not have sufficient
24
Arkansas’ average employment
declined from 2001-2003, UAMS
employment continued growing
to meet demand for its patient
care and education programs.
for research. Whole communities
of medical researchers exist in
central Arkansas, creating an
opportunity to commercialize
the research.”
UAMS incubator
creates new businesses
UAMS provides support for
emerging new biomedical
companies through its business
incubator, Bioventures.
Bioventures has participated
in the formation of about 20
companies which include
six operating companies, 11
client companies and several
“pipeline” companies in various
stages of formation since its
beginning in 1997.
The Angelou Report goes on
to say that universities must
prove a return on investment
for educational and research
programs. Bioventures is an
example of such a demonstration
through “technology
commercialization that
transforms research into viable
products and companies that
can generate tax revenue and
job growth for the surrounding
community.”
These spinoff companies have
a combined annual payroll of
$18.1 million and have created
370 jobs with an average salary
of $49,000.
Under Bioventures’ management,
nearly 900 novel ideas have been
gathered from UAMS researchers.
These invention disclosures have
produced more than 175 patents
and 52 license agreements with
biotechnology, medical device
and pharmaceutical companies.
UAMS Seen as Business
Recruiting Asset
A 2004 report by the University of
Arkansas at Little Rock Institute
for Economic Advancement and
consultant Angelou Economics
called UAMS one of the most
valuable assets in Arkansas for
business recruitment in the
region because of its medical
research base.
“The challenge is to identify the
key assets in the region. One of
the region’s primary assets is
UAMS and its growing reputation
UAMS Named one of the
best places to work
UAMS was proud to be
recognized in recent years as
one of central Arkansas’ Best
Places to Work by readers of the
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
The average salary at UAMS
is greater than the statewide
average salary. The average
salary for UAMS hourly workers
is $37,769, compared to the
Arkansas’ statewide average wage
of $30,645. The average salary
for UAMS salaried employees
is $56,199, compared to the
U.S. average wage of $40,146.
There are more salaried UAMS
employees (nearly 6,000) than
there are hourly (about 3,300).
Even lower-paying positions
offer health insurance and other
benefits.
the more
than 9,600
UAMS
employees
paid an
estimated
$65 million
in taxes in
2005.
uams est. state & local Tax payments
Estimated State and Local Tax Payments,
Based on Adjusted Gross Income,
by UAMS and Employees, FY 2006
Total...................................$64,697,184
personal income Tax
$38.2 million
local property Taxes
$4 million
sales Taxes
$22.4 million
UAMS
helps the
source: institute for economic advancement, university of arkansas at little rock
state in its
efforts to recruit businesses.
Businesses and families looking
to relocate want to know the
strength of an area’s health
care system as well as the
schools. A recent AARP article
on retirement listed proximity
to comprehensive, well-regarded
health care facilities and
colleges or universities (for
continuing education and a
multigenerational vibe) as
criteria used for many when
they decide where to locate upon
retirement.
Money.cnn.com used access to
top-notch health care as one
of its criteria when selecting its
2006 Best Places to Retire.
The continued success of UAMS
as a health care provider and
institution of higher education
impacts the economic health and
attractiveness of the region.
UAMS employees each pay an
estimated $4,231 in state and
$2,488 in local taxes annually,
according to a report by the
UALR Institute for Economic
Advancement. Adding in
estimated property tax payments,
25
PATIENT CARE HIGHLIGHTS
Patient Care Demands
Increase
UAMS patient care programs
continue to grow, as evidenced by
outpatient visits and patient volume
to UAMS and clinical affiliates
staffed by its physicians.
Combined patient volume at UAMS,
its Area Health Education Centers
(AHECs), and clinical affiliates
Arkansas Children’s Hospital and
the Central Arkansas Veterans
Healthcare System topped
1.3 million in 2007.
Between 2004 and 2008, UAMS
outpatient visits totaled more than
1.7 million. During that period
outpatient visits grew at a rate of
about 3 percent annually.
Emergency department
Cases, Discharges Rise
18,934
18,110
17,012
16,685
16,514
UAMS Inpatient Discharges
The increased demand for patient
care at UAMS also can be measured
by the caseload of its Emergency
Department staff and its hospital
discharges.
The Emergency Department
averaged 34,636 cases a year
between 2004 and 2008. In fiscal
2008, the number reached 39,430,
an average of 108 cases each day.
During the same period, UAMS
Medical Center saw its inpatient
discharges grow 14.6 percent.
2004
26
2005
2006
2007
2008
OTHER KEY HIGHLIGHTS
UAMS programs reach every corner of
UAMS Outreach Program
the state. UAMS delivers education,
patient care and community outreach
services at locations across the state.
Batesville
UAMS Employees
UAMS employees come from
70 of the state’s 75 counties.
As of November 2007, UAMS had
9,845 employees from across the
35
1
state. Another 114 employees
28
live outside Arkansas for a total
81
employment of 9,959.
6
80
14
16
123
7
3
53
10
6651 319
3
77
0
7
30
382
905
3
13
45
0
2
4
3
5
4
5
23
9
0
22
22
61
14
276
13
6
4
0
34
65
42
3
7
6
20
39
1
2
4
1
5
19
2
22
4
0
1
2
2
3
6
166
2
2
11
3
12
2
2
June 2008
DATE
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4301 W. Markham St.
Little Rock, AR 72205
www.uams.edu
28