2019 – 2020 Annual Report | UAMS Regional Campuses

Regional Campuses 2019 – 2020 Annual Report

Download the PDF version of the annual report.

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Message from the Vice Chancellor

In October 2019, Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, announced the launch of UAMS Health, an integrated statewide system of care that encompasses our UAMS Medical Center and all UAMS-affiliated clinical operations across Arkansas. Our Regional Campuses play a key and integral role in the UAMS Health system and improving the health of all Arkansans.

At eight UAMS Regional Campus locations statewide, our interprofessional teams of physicians, nurses, care coordinators, behaviorists, and pharmacists put our patients’ care first and are leading the way to improved health care in every region of Arkansas. Education is a mission-critical core of the Regional Campuses network, covering every step of the long-term educational pipeline from early student exposure in junior high and high school, through college and professional school, ultimately through our family medicine residency programs, and. on to becoming practicing providers serving communities and populations where they are most needed.

Collegiality is an integral part of the UAMS culture, enabling physicians, residents, and other clinicians to draw on the expertise of peers throughout the system, helping them to pass on their own knowledge and educating all staff and students to keep pace with new developments and innovations in health care. Our interprofessional clinical and educational teams create a unique culture for health professions students and residents in training to experience and be equipped in the provision of high-quality primary health care in communities across the state.

As the newly appointed vice chancellor to Regional Campuses, I am honored to work with all of our capable faculty and staff to help fulfill and integrate UAMS’ broad missions in research, education, and clinical care throughout the state. I look forward to continuing to foster our vital community partnerships in every region across Arkansas. As you read the annual report, you will see as I do, the extraordinary team of clinical providers, educators, staff, students, and residents making a difference in the health of Arkansans.

About Amy Wenger, MHSA

In June 2020, the chancellor’s office announced Amy Wenger, MHSA, as the new vice chancellor for Regional Campuses. Amy has served since January 2019 as the chancellor’s chief of staff, managing numerous executive projects and serving as part of the senior leadership team. Prior to that, she held various administrative roles since joining UAMS in 2005. She most recently served as administrator of the Women and Infant Health Service Line and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the College of Medicine. She received her master’s degree in health services administration in 2004 and completed a postgraduate fellowship at Vanderbilt Medical Group in Nashville, Tennessee.

Amy Wenger, MHSA
Vice Chancellor, UAMS Regional Campuses

Built on the foundation of our nationally known Area Health Education Centers, our Regional Campuses is a jewel and demonstrate our commitment to improving health and health care statewide. Continuing to strengthen and expand our network of regional campuses will be vital to delivering on our goals in Vision 2029 to create the healthiest state in the region in the next 10 years
Stephanie Gardner, Pharm.D., Ed.D. Provost and Chief Strategy Officer Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Steppe Mette, M.D. Senior Vice Chancellor, UAMS Health CEO, UAMS Medical Center

Program History

UAMS Regional Campuses, formerly Area Health Education Centers (AHECs), was founded in 1973, through combined efforts of the Governor, the State Legislature, and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), as a means to encourage UAMS medical school graduates to remain in Arkansas, and help address the state’s shortage and uneven distribution of primary care physicians. Over time, our mission has expanded to include other disciplines such as pharmacy, nursing, physician assistants and behavioral health professionals.

UAMS Regional Campuses serves as an educational outreach network for UAMS and the principal means to decentralize medical and other health professions education throughout the state. Eight teaching centers in Batesville, Fayetteville/Springdale, Fort Smith, Jonesboro, Pine Bluff, Texarkana, Magnolia, and Helena- West Helena expose future health professionals to underserved communities and provide more varied hands-on experiences than they might receive in a traditional urban, academic
environment. Each center serves a multiple county region

Mission

To improve the health of Arkansans, through community and academic partnerships, by training health professionals and delivering quality patient-centered primary care.

Statewide Impact

UAMS Regional Campuses employs 639 people statewide (including residents), operating as important economic forces in their communities.

2019-20 Trainee Overview

Residents -145, Medical Students - 174, Allied Health - 21. Physician Assistant - 21, Pharmacy - 25, Nursing - 36

This year, we provided training for:

277 health professions students
145 medical residents
2,198 high school and college students for structured health career programs, and 15,893 in group presentations/events

Our Alignment with UAMS 2029 Vision:

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

Organizational Changes – Message from New Clinical Leadership

This year, Regional Campuses was realigned with UAMS Health and the Integrated Medicine Service Line (IMSL). The IMSL leadership team started the year visiting all regional campuses for initial EPIC kickoff meetings and quickly transformed efforts to focus on the COVID-19 crisis. Collectively, our team developed procedures and protocols to provide a safe work environment, navigated supplies and PPE, worked through quarantine processes, and in a few weeks developed a robust telemedicine health care platform to provide ongoing patient care. The quick adaptation of our Regional Campuses in response to the rapidly changing environment was incredible.

As we have become accustomed to working within a pandemic context, we continue to focus on improving health care outcomes for our patients. Quality metrics for value-based programs, such as CPC+ and ACO, will concentrate on patient experience, diabetic and blood pressure control, and annual wellness visits. An Integrated Medicine Primary Care scorecard was developed to coordinate quality and productivity measures for all our primary care clinics to identify best practices that will be shared across the network for quality improvement. Additionally we will establish a patient care and safety reporting system with training in high reliability and error prevention to identify events and develop root cause analyses and tracking systems within a safety team structure.

Finally, we are on target for EPIC implementation, starting with GO-LIVE clinics in October and planned completion in December. EPIC will allow us to improve quality metrics reporting, standardize clinic workflows and patient visits across campuses, and coordinate UAMS Health specialty visits, either face to face or via virtual platform. Despite a tumultuous year, we are off to a great start working collaboratively with our team-members across Arkansas to focus on exceptional patient care and quality statewide.

The following leadership changes have been made to assist in reaching this goal.

Michelle W. Krause, MD, MPH, Vice Chair for Clinical Operations, Quality, & Efficiency in the Department of Internal Medicine (pictured), is also UAMS Service Line Director of Medical Specialties.
Sandra Meredith-Neve, RN, BScN, CPN, Senior Service Line Nursing Director for Integrated Medicine & Regional Campuses. Sandra assumes oversight of Regional Campuses Nursing Leadership, Advanced Practice RN’s, Integrated Behavioral Health, and Quality and Value-Based Care Leadership. Regional clinical staff (RN’s, LPN’s, CNA/ PCT/MA’s, Radiology Techs, Respiratory Therapists, and Clinical Nutrition) will report through the RC Nursing Leadership.
Kathy Emans, LCSW, will continue in her role as Director of Behavioral Health for the Regional Campuses with oversight of the Behavioral Health providers, Clinical Interpreters, and Health Educators.
Brandie Mikesell, MA, will continue her role as Director of Quality Assurance and Value-Based Care and will assume added responsibilities with the Office of Population Health. Regional staff participating in Quality Assurance/Improvement activities will report to Brandie with additional oversight of the nursing practice by Sandra Meredith-Neve.
Holly Jenkins, MSN, RN will transition to an Advanced Practice Partner role for regional clinics to promote excellence in nursing and clinical practice in the patient care setting, education of staff and patients, serving as a clinical resource and promoting nursing research. Holly will report to Donna Elrod, Ph.D., RN, Assoc Chief Clinical Informatics Officer of Nursing.
Justin B. Usery, PharmD, BCPS has been appointed as Pharmacy Director of Ambulatory Care at UAMS Health for the Integrated Medicine and Regional Campuses.
Donna Gullette, Ph.D., APRN, AGACNP-BC, FAANP, Professor, and Associate Dean for Practice, UAMS College of Nursing, will oversee Service line APRN scope of practice; Sandra Meredith-Neve will continue Administrative oversight.

$4.66 Million HRSA Value-Based Medical Student Education Grant

We just completed Year 1 of a four-year Health Resources & Services Association (HRSA) grant to strengthen our efforts to recruit and retain more primary care physicians for rural and underserved areas. The Arkansas Medical Education Primary Care Partnerships (AR MEd-PCP) is a collaborative project of the UAMS College of Medicine, Regional Campuses, and Department of Family & Preventive Medicine (DFPM). Christopher Westfall, MD, dean of the College of Medicine, is project director, with co-directors: Marcia Byers, RN, Ph.D., RC director of Clinical Innovation; Daniel Knight, MD, previous DFPM Chair, and Leslie Stone, MD, DFPM director of Medical Student Education. In September, HRSA awarded us an additional $2.8 million in supplemental funds for 2020-21, which we will report on next year.

Although our planned activities were severely restricted by the COVID shutdown this year, below are some of the highlights of this first year’s achievements by our remarkable leadership team:

The creation, approval, and implementation of a new four-year Honors Program for Rural & Urban Underserved Primary Care Medicine, which will engage students starting in their first year of medical school.
Launching multiple new programs with our Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs) at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and Philander Smith College, including the SUPER project, under-represented minority (URM) mentoring connections with UAMS faculty, MCAT prep, and a new Anesthesia Tech transition program.
Development and approval of new medical student clinical rotation sites and adjunct faculty appointments at multiple Community Health Centers (CHCs) in rural and underserved communities across the state.
Development of “teach the teacher” continuing professional education and faculty development modules and opportunities to assist with onboarding and equipping of new rural preceptors and adjunct faculty.
Planning and preparation for the launching of intensive new STEM enrichment programming in Year 2, targeting disadvantaged high school students in the southeastern Arkansas Delta counties.

$2.5 Million HRSA Primary Care Residency Training Grant

In July 2020, we were awarded a new $2.5 million, 5-year HRSA Primary Care Training & Enhancement: Residency Training in Primary Care (PCTE-RTPC) grant, with Harvey “Mark” Attwood, MD, as project director, and Toni Middleton, MD, and Tricia Edstrom, M.Ed., as co-directors. Grant objectives are to standardize the regional residency curriculum, increase rural clinical exposure, establish new rural training tracks, and recruit more residency graduates to practice in rural Arkansas. This project will be reported on next year.

Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Grant

The new grants described above are building on the solid and historical foundation of HRSA AHEC grants that we have received for several decades. AHEC funds typically have funded our health careers pipeline programs, interprofessional student rotations, and limited partnership and continuing education efforts. The last several years, the AHEC grant national emphasis has shifted to developing and implementing a new AHEC Scholars program. ALL of these grant initiatives are being closely integrated and complementary toward reaching the overall goal of preparing more primary care providers for rural and underserved communities across Arkansas.

These projects are allowing us to do things we’ve wanted to do for many years. Working with UAPB and Philander Smith and other community partners, we can help more rural and disadvantaged students successfully navigate the medical school pipeline. Strengthening partnerships with the CHCs and Critical Access Hospitals also increases our capacity to expose more trainees to rural primary care rotations across the state, encouraging them to pursue family medicine with one of our residency programs and ultimately return to an underserved community to practice.
Robin Howell, program manager & lead writer of the grant proposals

Scott Dickson Invested as George Mitchell, MD, Endowed Chair

Scott Dickson, MD, residency program director at UAMS Northeast since 2009, was invested Feb. 6 in the Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, George K. Mitchell, M.D., Endowed Chair in Primary Care.

Dickson, who joined UAMS in 2001, is an assistant professor in the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine in the UAMS College of Medicine. He is also chief of staff at St. Bernards Medical Center in Jonesboro. Dickson attended Arkansas State University in Jonesboro and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in zoology in 1994. He received his medical degree from UAMS in 1998 and completed his internship and residency training at UAMS Northeast Regional Campus in 2001, and then joined the faculty there. He spent eight years as assistant residency director before being named residency director in 2009. Since becoming residency director, the regional campus has graduated 71 residents, with over 80% of those remaining in northeast Arkansas. Dickson previously was chief of the Department of Family Medicine at St. Bernards from 2007 to 2009. In 2018, he was named president of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians and serves on its board of directors. He has also served on the board of directors for the Jonesboro Church Health Clinic. He is a member of the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, the American Medical Association and the Arkansas Medical Society.

Honors & Awards

Patricia Edstrom, M. Ed.

Patricia Edstrom, M. Ed., Designated Institutional Officer (DIO) for UAMS Regional Campuses, was selected as a UAMS Phenomenal Woman for 2020. Ms. Edstrom has directly supported the successful accreditation for our seven Family Medicine Residency Programs, and serves as our director of education, supervising professional and pre-professional programs designed to recruit students into rural primary care. Prior to joining UAMS Regional Campuses, she served as education specialist at Arkansas Children’s Hospital for the Pediatric Residency/ Fellowship Programs, and was instrumental in implementating the first. longitudinal program for College of Medicine students at UAMS Northwest. Tricia’s passion for education is seen as she continually pursues new ways to improve our programs to ensure success for all trainees.

Leigh Wade, LCSW, at UAMS Northwest was named as UAMS MVP for May.

Leigh Wade started a food pantry in the UAMS NW Clinic for patients. She started the pantry from nothing, and relies solely on donations from clinic staff. In addition to the food pantry, Leigh also serves on the Complex Care Team, which takes a holistic, interprofessional approach to complex clients who are high risk. Leigh, with her behavioral health background, understands that health is physical and mental, but she goes even further to understand that health is also social. The food pantry is just one of many programs that Leigh is involved in to address social determinants of health.
Nomination letter Career Employees

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

20 Yrs: Mary ‘Fran’ Gaston (EA), Ronald Brimberry (NW), Alfredia Cooper, Hadrian Terrall, Carla Bush (SC)

25 Yrs: Barbara Miller (NW), Elizabeth Petray (WE), Nina Scales, Brenda Bennett, Deborah Birmingham-Lusk, Phyllis Lewis (SW)

Hometown Days at UAMS

Beginning in October, UAMS began hosting monthly “Hometown Days” in the UAMS Cafeteria in Little Rock. These events were intended to highlight our Regional Campuses and increase awareness related to local foods, cultural events, clinical and educational programs, and general “things to do” in the various parts of our state. Our centers in Helena-West Helena, Pine Bluff, Batesville and Jonesboro were spotlighted October through January.

Telemedicine & Digital Health

Service innovations have been key over the past year. In partnership with the UAMS Institute for Digital Health & Innovation (IDHI), telehealth protocols were developed, with an initial project between Batesville and Helena FMC providing clinic-to-clinic patient care should a clinic provider not be available. This project has since expanded to include partnerships with medical specialties in Little Rock, which offer telehealth options for patients within their home community. The success of these projects supported our ability to implement a new level of digital health care.

Working with and leading the IDHI team tasked with bringing digital health patient visits to UAMS Regional Campuses were Marcia Byers, Ph.D., RN, director of clinical innovation and research for UAMS Regional Campuses; Terri Imus, B.S.N., RN, clinical director of the institute’s Go Live Team; and Teague Johnson, director of technology for the institute. The regional and institute teams had only three weeks to bring the first few campuses online.

From mid-March through May, most patient visits with physicians and residents were seen through live video connections made possible through IDHI. Using the same software as UAMS HealthNow, the university’s online convenient care service, the institute facilitated the start and continuation of digital health patient visits at all eight of the UAMS regional campuses statewide.

Virtual Visits were in development just prior to the COVID-19 crisis and helped to expedite the development of new options for safe and timely patient care. Both medical and behavioral health providers in Regional Campuses were able to utilize this option to provide patient care. Physicians, residents and nurses also received intensive training on Medicare Wellness Visits, maintaining emphasis on preventative and overall health outcomes for our patients.

Jordon Weaver, MD conducts a telehealth visit over the computer

We were the early adopters and guinea pigs for figuring out work flows. We were a couple of weeks ahead of everybody and made a push for digital health. Digital health is especially suited for consultations to go over results from medical tests or routine medication refills.

Jordan Weaver, MD, program director at UAMS North Central (pictured above)

Family Medicine Residency

This year, 155 UAMS College of Medicine senior students matched through the National Resident Match Program; 70 (45%) selected residencies in a primary care specialty (Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Ob/Gyn); 66 matched to an Arkansas residency position. Regional Campuses provided training for 145 residents in 2019-20, including 44 who completed their three-year residency to become board eligible in Family Medicine. Of these, 43% (19/44) remained in Arkansas to practice and 39% (17/44) remained in their training region. Of those who stayed in Arkansas, 26% (5/19) chose a rural location.

See more information about our Regional Residencies.

UAMS now has 70 first-year Family Medicine residency slots available, including 52 at Regional Campuses, six at the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine (DFPM) in Little Rock, and 12 at the new joint DFPM & Baptist Health program in North Little Rock.

This year, UAMS North Central accepted its second cohort of 6 residents and UAMS West added a slot, bringing the total number of family medicine residents trained at our regional campuses to 152.

UAMS Regional Residency programs have trained nearly HALF of all the Family Physicians practicing in Arkansas, especially in rural areas.

UAMS Regional Campuses’ Family Medicine Residency Graduates

Of former graduates, 62% (833/1,353) remained in Arkansas. Of those staying in Arkansas, 51% (428/833) remained in their training region; 35% (291/833) practice in rural areas.

Sports Medicine Fellowship

The sports medicine fellowship at UAMS Northwest offers advanced training on diagnosis and treatment of sports-related illness and injury, with cooperation from the University of Arkansas (UA) Athletics Department and other clinical partners. Completing the fellowship enables a physician to sit for the sports medicine subspecialty board exam. Each year, one sports medicine fellow is accepted and trained in the program.

Practice Locations of our Graduates

833 UAMS Regional Campuses-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 Recruitment

This year, our recruiters reached over 18,000 students statewide. Due to the pandemic, most activities had to be cancelled beginning in March, including the cancellation of all MASH and CHAMPS programs in Summer 2020, so numbers are significantly down this year. We hope that all programs will be able to resume soon.

Medical Applications of Science for Health (MAS*H)

In Summer 2019, 410 high school students participated in one of 29 M*A*S*H camps across the state, with 69% 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” situations.

Community Health Applied in Medical Public Service (CHAMPS)

In Summer 2019 and Spring 2020, 123 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.

Hands-On Health Care and Health Explorers

In 2019-20, 144 students glimpsed health careers through Hands-On Health Care activities such as drawing blood and physical therapy, and 946 Health Explorers had similar opportunities 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 2019-20, 213 students participated.

Club Scrub & Med Pro-Ed

School-based clubs encourage exploration of health careers through meetings and activities, with 86 participants this year.

Medical Interpreting

Our UAMS Northwest recruiter, who is Hispanic, taught a Medical Interpreting class for 26 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 670 students this year.

Group Presentations and Events

In addition to the structured programs described above, our recruiters reached 15,893 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.

MD Mentors (New)

In an attempt to mitigate lost opportunities from the pandemic shutdown, our recruiters created a new online program to match UAMS Medical Students with undergraduate pre-medical students. Medical students are paired up with undergraduates from the same region, university or hometown when possible. Within the first few days, over 100 medical students had signed up to share their knowledge. Meetings were held via Zoom with medical students offering advice on interviewing, managing stress, internships and shadowing, gap years, personal statements, MCAT prep, debt management, and more.

UAMS Rural & Primary Care Incentive Programs

I want to call your attention to something 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

We are currently working with all these programs to integrate them into a more cohesive and seamless process for students who demonstrate an interest and commitment to rural and/or underserved primary care practice.

Rural Practice Programs

Medical students who participate in the UAMS Rural Practice Program complete a Family Medicine Preceptorship, a Junior Family Medicine Clerkship, and a senior rotation (Primary Care Selective or Acting Internship) often all at one or more of our regional sites. In 2019-20, a total of 32 medical students and 22 residents had a Rural

Practice commitment. See Rural Practice Programs.

Honors Program in Rural & Urban Underserved Primary Care

Our new Honors Program was launched for UAMS medical students in the Fall 2020 semester, with two primary goals: 1) to provide students with a longitudinal experience that prepares them to deliver comprehensive medical care for underserved populations in rural and urban settings, and 2) to foster student interest in a career practicing primary care in such communities in Arkansas. Upon completion of the Honors Program, the student will demonstrate enhanced skills and proficiency in the following core topic areas:

Quadruple Aim, Population Health, Social Determinants of Health, Practice Transformation, Behavioral Health Integration, Interprofessional Education and Practice, Cultural Competency, and Current & Emerging Health Topics. The faculty advisor is Leslie Stone, MD. For more information, see Honors in Underserved Primary Care.

AHEC Scholars

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

Arkansas Blue Cross & Blue Shield

This year’s recipients of a $20,000 Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield Primary Care Scholarship, which encourages aspiring physicians to pursue primary care practices in rural Arkansas, are Olivia Brasher of North Little Rock and Drake Cullum of Bono. Brasher graduated from Hendrix College in Conway. She gained experience in family medicine in Helena-West Helena, and is interested in practicing pediatrics in a rural community in Northwest Arkansas. Cullum received his undergraduate degree from Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. He plans to practice family medicine in either northeast or south Arkansas depending on need.

Scholarships reduce debt concerns for outstanding students like Drake and Olivia who want to make a difference in rural communities in Arkansas, and allow them to focus on their education and becoming excellent physicians. We are very thankful for Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s investment in our students and our state.
Christopher T. Westfall, M.D., FACS, executive vice chancellor of UAMS & Dean of the College of Medicine

Medical Student Education

Family Medicine & Service Learning Preceptorships

During Summer 2019, 27 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.

Additional 4-week Service Learning Preceptorships were completed by five students in Summer 2019 and 12 in Summer 2020. Topics included Best Practice Models for Complex Care Teams, Substance Use, Suicide Assessment and Screening; Integrated Behavioral Health, Screening for Social Determinants of Health, Provider Wellness, COVID-19 Contact Tracing, Quality Improvement, White Paper: Health Centers Strengthening Services to Benefit Rural Patients.

Junior Clerkships in Family Medicine

In 2019-20, 73% (121/165) of the junior class performed family medicine clerkships at our regional campuses. 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. This year, the COVID shutdown disrupted clerkships beginning in March and virtual alternatives were quickly developed.

Senior Electives & Acting Internships

In 2019-20, 29% (48/165) of the senior class completed rotations in a regional campus. 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 focusing on inpatient clinical skills and preparation for residency. Senior Electives available include Family Medicine Primary Care, Rural Primary Care, Sports Medicine, and Emergency Medicine.

Rural & Family Medicine Student Interest Groups

The Rural Medicine Student Leadership Association (RMSLA) is sponsored by Regional Campuses and Arkansas Farm Bureau

to support Rural Practice students, to inform state policy, to create connections among students, practitioners, and communities, and to host meetings to discuss issues of importance to future rural physicians. This year,155 students were involved in RMSLA.

The Family Medicine Interest Group (FMIG) reached 375 students this year, with monthly meetings of 30-40 attendees. Guest speakers offer diverse perspectives to increase student awareness of all aspects of family medicine, practice models, financial management, healthcare policies, and personal stories. Arkansas’ residency programs sponsored a record number of 28 UAMS medical students to attend the 2019 AAFP National Student and Resident Conference in Kansas City, Kansas.

Inter-Professional Education

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

Pharmacy

This year, 25 pharmacy students completed training at one of our centers. UAMS Regional Campuses 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 2019-20, 36 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.

2019-2020 Nursing Students

Advanced Practice RNs (APRN) 6
Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN) 18
Registered Nurses (RN) 5
Nursing Assistants 7

Health Professions

Physician Assistants

This year, 21 students from the UAMS Physician Assistant (PA) program completed rotations at one of our regional campuses. These experiences focus on clinical aspects of family medicine and primary care in both outpatient and inpatient settings.

Other Trainees

Other students included four Social Work Interns and 17 Allied Health students.

Continuing Education

Continuing Education 2019-2020

Number of Teleconferences through LearnOnDemand.org –153

Total Attendees – 3,715

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

In partnership with IDHI, a new Faculty Development Conversation Series was launched in August 2018 to enhance scholarly activity opportunities across the statewide network. Rregional faculty presented 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, Digital/Tele-health, Cultural Competency, Practice Transformation and other current and emerging issues like COVID-19, Opioid & Substance Use Disorders. Supplying professional support and continuing education for health care providers statewide. The learnondemand.org platform has grown to more than 15,000 users. Healthcare professionals are able to obtain continuing education credit online.

Learning Resource Centers

The UAMS Library coordinates with Regional Campuses libraries to offer library services for not only UAMS Regional Campuses practitioners but to their local practitioners and the public. Regional resource libraries house a limited number of videos, health models, textbooks and patient education brochures to serve healthcare professionals, students, and consumers. Some on-site librarians offer services such as proctored testing, educational material and literature searches, and assistance with electronic resources. Due to the expansion and ease of availability to online resources in recent years, several regional library facilities have scaled back on staff and holdings, with increased reliance on and support from the UAMS Library. By maintaining a network connection with the main UAMS Library, regional satellites can offer periodicals and services such as library loans through a single negotiated cost and pass on savings. In 2019-2020, Regional Campuses served over 15,000 library patrons.

Patient Care & Public Service

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.

Clinic Patient Services 2019-2020

Patients Served – 47,353
Outpatient Visits – 119,707
Uninsured Care – $1,073,748
Hospital Visits – 54,180
Nursing Home Visits – 5,320

Retirement

Ron Cole, MBA, FACMPE retired in June after 40 years of service to UAMS Regional Campuses. Prior to his role as Regional Executive for the northern part of the state, Ron was hired in 1980 as the business manager for the Jonesboro AHEC, and later was named center director at UAMS Northeast. As center director, he led the Northeast Program through changes in quality improvement initiatives and team-based care. In 2015, he was the driving force behind the renovation and move to the new UAMS Northeast Family Medical Center location. Ron was influential as a regional executive in leading our enterprise through reorganization andcentralization.

Mark Deal BSBA, MBA, retired effective June 30, 2020. Before his role as southern regional executive, Mark was center director at UAMS South Central-Pine Bluff for 6 years; and senior administrative director at UAMS Northeast in Jonesboro for 4 years. Mark was instrumental in leading UAMS South Central’s campus relocation and renovation and move to its new team-based facility in February 2019. As a regional executive, Mark led our enterprise through reorganization and centralization. He was instrumental in leading new program development, including heading the effort for reopening a family medical clinic and residency program in El Dorado.

Dennis Moore, PharmD , center director at UAMS North Central since it opened in 2007, retired in 2019. After earning his doctor of pharmacy degree in 1972, he worked at drug and alcohol rehab centers in Georgia and North Carolina before returning to Arkansas in 1999. During his 50-year career, Dennis received numerous honors and awards and served as president of the Board of Directors of the Arkansas Pharmacists Association. Under his leadership, construction was completed on a new 23,000 square foot facility at UAMS North Central, and in 2019, UAMS North Central welcomed their first class of Family Medicine Residents.

In Memoriam

Richard Aclin, M.D., 79, of Fort Smith, passed Aug. 10, 2019. Aclin served in the USAF for 11 years, and established the first intenstive care nursery at Keesler Air Force Base. He was chief of Staff at Sparks Regional Medical Center and chief of pediatrics at Sparks and St. Edward’s hospitals. Aclin was named one of the Best Doctors in America, every year since 1996. He joined the UAMS West faculty in 1998, overseeing outpatient and inpatient care, and resident education in pediatrics. He initated the clinic’s “Reach Out and Read” program. Aclin is survived by his wife of 58 years, Kay, four children and eight grandchildren.

Ann Bailey Bynum, Ed.D., RTT, passed away Sept. 10, 2019, in Lakeland, Florida. Bynum served 22 years at UAMS, as associate vice chancellor for Regional Programs, director for the Center for Rural Health and Rural Hospital Program, associate director of the Area Health Education Centers (AHEC), Co-director of the Center for Distance Health, and assistant professor in the College of Public Health. Bynum was a health policy Officer for the National Rural Health Association, board president of the Arkansas Komen Foundation and chairman of the Governor’s Breast Cancer Control Board. She was instrumental in starting the Telemedicine Program at UAMS. Ann is survived by her two daughters and six grandchildren.

James “Bud” McFadin, former assistant vice chancellor for administration for the AHEC program until he retired in 2010, passed away on July 30 at the age of 77. Bud worked at UAMS for 34 years, previously as assistant director for administration in the Department of Pathology. He was a lifetime member of the Association of Family Medicine Administration, serving 3 years as president. After UAMS, he volunteered at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs and was Volunteer of the Year in 2013. Bud had a great sense of humor and a green thumb. Bud is survived by his wife of 49 years, Cherie, two children, and four grandchildren

Lee Bryan Parker, Jr., MD, former center director at UAMS Northwest, passed away in Springdale, on August 13th at the age of 91. Parker was center director from 1975 until 1996 when he officially “retired.” However, he continued precepting well into his 90th year. Michael Macechko stated, “None of us would be here without him and his steadfast leadership and vision. He was a lion of medicine… and one of the cornerstones of our program. His legacy lives on in each of us whom he has mentored. .” Dr Parker is survived by his wife of 68 years, Beverly, four children, ten grandchildren, and 18 great-grandchildren.

UAMS East

Becky G. Hall, Ed.D., Center Director

UAMS East had another productive year with many new opportunities and

successes. The UAMS Family Medical Clinic continued to expand services to meet the needs of our diverse patient population. One new service offered was an early morning clinic to provide working patients with access to care. The clinic routinely participates in quality improvement programs designed to enhance patient outcomes and these measures and metrics are continually monitored to ensure that we provide the best care.

Prevention and wellness programs have been offered to area residents for the past 30 years. These valuable programs and services have continued in all three centers of UAMS East including Helena, Lake Village and West Memphis. UAMS East locations offer evidence-based curriculum and training programs using a collaborative and comprehensive approach to health.

One program highlight of the past year was a collaborative partnership with Arkansas Minority Health Commission, UAMS East and the

Cooperative Extension Service. Camp “I Can”, a weeklong camp, focused on nutrition and exercise activities for 30 youths, ages 9-13. UAMS East also continued its worksite wellness with local business and industries providing biometric health screenings, CPR/First Aid, smoking cessation and wellness education programs.

UAMS East Fitness Center offers a valuable service to members of the community through fitness memberships and various exercise and weight loss classes. UAMS East offers both age and fitness level appropriate classes including Sliver and Fit, PEPPI, Yoga, Spin and Zumba, and the outdoor walking track is accessible to the entire community.

The UAMS East Recruiting Specialist continues to increase opportunities for high school and college students through various programs, including A Day in the Life, Club Scrub, M*A*S*H and CHAMPS. This year, the specialists were heavily involved with the AHEC Scholars and MD Mentor programs. MD Mentor is a newly designed program connecting UAMS Medical Students with undergraduate college students to provide insight and guidance based on the experiences of the medical students.

UAMS East provides learning opportunities and clinical rotations to health professions students and residents, including nursing, APRN, health education and lab technology. This year, UAMS East offered an 8-week internship for a health promotion and wellness student attending the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

UAMS East was the location for a Trauma in the Delta Symposium, Simulation and Cadaver Lab. Over 50 health care professionals attended this two-day intense training, led by staff from Regional One Health Trauma Center, Firefighters Burn Center and Methodist Bonheur.

Since opening in 1990, UAMS East has enjoyed many years of success with continued support from our leaders and community partnerships. More than 100 valued partners and partnerships are vital to helping UAMS East address the health and wellness needs of the residents we serve. The entire team at UAMS East is committed to making a positive impact and difference in the lives of our patients, community members, and students with whom we work.

UAMS North Central

Jordan Weaver, MD, Residency Director
Marcus Bruner, Administrative Director

This year, UAMS North Central almost doubled our pool of providers with the second class of Family Medicine Residents, bringing our total to 12. An additional faculty provider, Patrick Sullins, MD, a UAMS College of Medicine graduate, also joined us from the UAMS Northeast Family Medicine Residency Program. UAMS North Central has partnered with the Batesville School District to help provide healthcare services for students from pre-school through high school. Our residents and providers organized and performed numerous physicals for the School District this year, including kindergarten physicals on location at each of Batesville’s elementary schools. In partnership with White River Medical Center, UAMS North Central nursing staff, residents and providers were also able to offer free sports physicals for the area’s Junior and Senior High students. With more than 300 students served, we are proud to represent the UAMS Vision 2029 with excellent service throughout our 11-county region.

From mid-March through May, most patient visits with physicians and residents were seen via live virtual video connections made possible by the UAMS Institute for Digital Health & Innovation. Using the same software as UAMS HealthNow, a convenient online care service, the institute facilitated the start and continuation of digital health patient visits at all eight of the UAMS regional campuses statewide. UAMS North Central’s clinic in Batesville accounted for about 40% of the remote patient visit volume at the regional campuses, thanks to our pioneering program director, Jordan Weaver.

We were the early adopters and guinea pigs for figuring out the work flows. We were a couple of weeks ahead of everybody and made a push for digital health. I was really pleased with it, and it’s easy to do if you know the patients and have already seen them in the clinic
Jordan Weaver, M.D

Digital health is especially suited for consultations to go over results from medical tests or medication refills that are relatively routine, Weaver said. He and Family Medical Center physicians and staff tried to do as many over video as possible. It saved travel time for patients and even in some cases enabled patients to visit with a physician or advanced practice registered nurse from their workplace.

Our recruitment specialist, Jesse Cargill, continues to work with students throughout the UAMS North Central region to help equip and support them in their quest for enrollment into medical school and other health professions programs. He works with pre-professional clubs at area high schools and colleges/universities, attends multiple College and Career Fairs, and helps to plan and put on the annual Arkansas HOSA State Leadership Conference. When COVID hit in March, most programs had to be cancelled, so alternative options for connecting with students were quickly explored and implemented. A new MD Mentor program was successfully launched, using Zoom to connect medical students with undergraduate pre-professional students to provide a forum for medical students to share their experience and advice, such as “Info MD students wish they would have known.”

In the coming year, UAMS North Central will be hosting our first medical students for clinical rotations, so we look forward to many more opportunities to integrate our family medicine residents with rotating medical students, as well as with pre-professional students.

UAMS Northeast

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

In July 2019, UAMS Northeast celebrated our 40th anniversary with a wonderful community event with dignitaries from across the state. Our UAMS Northeast Family Medicine Residency match this year was a success, matching all slots. While we are very excited to have these new residents join our team, saying goodbye to eight outstanding physicians that graduated in June was difficult. For the first time ever, Northeast held a virtual ceremony for our graduates. Our residency director, Scott Dickson, this year received the Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, George K. Mitchell, MD, Endowed Chair in Primary Care, which is an outstanding accomplishment.

For the first time, UAMS Northeast participated in Hometown Days on the UAMS campus in Little Rock. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, several programs were cancelled, including MASH. However, in the fall, we finished off “A Day in the Life” series. MCAT went virtual for the first time connecting 27 students with professors through ZOOM for the four-week course. An unexpected advantage to going virtual was the ability to incorporate professors from other universities, and students were able to connect and offer each other support through Group Me. Our MCAT prep course is excellent and one-of-a-kind, and is offered in conjunction with our exceptional partners for 11 years at Arkansas State University. This program has been very successful in helping students fulfill their dreams of medical school.

Third- and fourth-year medical students rotate with us monthly. Northeast Recruiter, Yalanda Merrell, developed an MD Mentors program, which allows for connection between UAMS Medical Students and Undergraduate college students to provide wisdom and insight based on the medical students’ experiences. Facilitated by the recruiters, MD Mentors offer sessions on topics pertaining to the application process and medical school itself. Students connect one-on-one, as well as with small or large group sessions.

Yalanda created a Handbook to allow the program to be duplicated in other states per HRSA request.

Another exciting item was the start of our Intro to Pathology/Health Coaching class. Through partnership with ASU, 11 students signed up for the Thursday night course. Ashley Glover, MD, and David Blackburn, MD teach the course at our facility. Students will be eligible to apply for our new Health Coaching program. If accepted, students will team up with our medical staff and be paired with a patient. After training, they will make weekly in-home visits with their patient and report back to their team. Students will gain interprofessional education, experience in a healthcare setting, and play an active role in a patient’s care plan for better health. If students complete the four-semester curriculum (along with electives in their degree plan), they will receive a certificate in Health Coaching from ASU.

Telehealth has been essential during the pandemic. The residency program continues to work two services at St. Bernards Medical Center, which provides inpatient training for our residents. COVID-19 has provided new challenges for the program, but UAMS Northeast continues to participate in quality improvement initiatives to reshape how we deliver care from a fee-for-service model to a patient-centered and value-based outcomes model.

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

UAMS Northwest

Michael Macechko, MD, Residency Director
Rob Poole, Administrative Director

The UAMS Northwest Family Medicine Residency is moving toward more fully integrating its academic and financial partnership with the UAMS Northwest Campus, which also includes numerous health professions programs and an Internal Medicine Residency. Michael Macechko, MD, was named program director for the UAMS Northwest Family Medicine Residency on July 1, 2020; Ronald Brimberry, MD, served as interim program director during the 2019-2020 academic year. The program added one PGY1 spot for the 2020-2021 academic year, bringing the total to 10 residents per year. The Family Medicine Residency revamped its pediatric rotations, with a PGY1 outpatient pediatrics rotation at Community Clinics of Northwest Arkansas and PGY2 inpatient pediatrics and PGY3 pediatric emergency medicine rotations at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock.

Both the Family Medicine Residency and the Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship retained continued accreditation status with the ACGME. The Primary Care Sports Medicine Fellowship graduated its fifth fellow, Christopher Trinh. The Fellowship also moved from Advanced Orthopaedic Specialists to UAMS Orthopedics & Sports Medicine in Fayetteville.

Macechko, MD, the Family Medicine Residency program director, is now vice-chair of the Medicine Department at Northwest Medical Center-Springdale. He is also on the Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee at Northwest and at Washington Regional Medical Center (WRMC), in addition to being on the WRMC Antibiotic Stewardship Committee. Derrick Gray, MD, residency faculty, serves on the WRMC Credentialing Committee and treats patients at 7 Hills Homeless Center as a community service. Gray and Macechko have continued to serve as co-medical directors at the Arkansas Veterans Home at Fayetteville. Linda McGhee, MD, continues to serve as medical director of the Hansen’s Disease Clinic in the Marshallese Outreach Clinic in Springdale. She also serves as medical director of the Washington County HIV Clinic in Fayetteville and chairs the WRMC Physician Health Committee. Hunter Judkins, MD, became medical director for the Family Medical Centers in 2019-2020, replacing Brimberry. Paul Bucolo, MD, received the 2019 Chris Hackler Award for Excellence in Medical Ethics in the resident category. This award recognizes residents, faculty, and non-clinicians in the UAMS College of Medicine who have demonstrated exemplary attention to ethical issues that affect patient care.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many planned student rotations and activities had to be changed, modified, or canceled. Intro to Medical Interpreting was held for only one session, with 26 students participating. Spring and Summer CHAMPS and MASH programs were canceled.

Ana Sanchez has been collaborating with the Office of Community Health and Research, TOP (Teen Outreach Program), by providing health professions information and hands-on activity kits to all the participants of this program. She delivered hands-on activities via Zoom, and later, delivered 56 Forensic Science kits to all participants, which are all Hispanic/Latino and Marshallese students.

UAMS South

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

In July 2020, UAMS Regional Programs was awarded a new $2.5 million, 5-year HRSA Primary Care Training & Enhancement: Residency Training in Primary Care (PCTE-RTPC) grant, with our own Attwood, as project director. Grant objectives are to standardize the family medicine residency training curriculum across our statewide regional network, increase resident clinical training experiences in more rural clinics and community health centers, and ultimately to recruit more residency graduates to practice in rural and underserved Arkansas communities. This project is also laying the groundwork to roll out future rural training tracks.

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 enjoy the consistent engagement of our Patient Family Advisory Committee, and this year the UAMS Mammo van also came from UAMS in Little Rock to provide screening services to the local community.

This year, UAMS South was asked to participate in a Hometown Days event on the UAMS main campus in Little Rock. We were able to showcase Magnolia, interact with UAMS staff, students and guests, and it was a huge success. After the coronavirus pandemic shut down, we were able to implement virtual visits and telehealth to continue providing uninterrupted patient care for our region.

Mark Deal, our previous center director and regional executive for south Arkansas retired in July 2020. Mark was instrumental in much of the planning and development that has taken place over the last two years with Medical Center of South Arkansas and many local and regional leaders. As a result, we are anticipating the re-opening of an El Dorado family medical center and family medicine residency program in 2022, which will be launched as the ninth UAMS regional campus.

Our residency program successfully graduated two residents this year, with a 100% board pass rate. Our recruitment specialist, Stephen Attebery has continued to reach out to students throughout our seven-county region to encourage students to consider health careers. He is working closely with Southern Arkansas University, Southern Arkansas University Tech, and South Arkansas Community College to strengthen those relationships and improve the resources and support available to all their students. This year he piloted an interprofessional Adventure in Medicine event at Logoly State Park, where pre-health and nursing students learned hands-on skills in acute treatment of patients. Students were able to apply the skills immediately with in-the-field real-life scenarios.

After all in-person programs had to be cancelled due to COVID-19, the statewide team of recruiters successfully developed an MD Mentors program offering multiple presentations to local and statewide undergraduate pre-med students via Zoom meetings and conferences. Undergraduate students have connected one-on-one with medical students for mentoring, while also allowing medical students to gain leadership and presentation skills. A new UAMS recruitment booklet was developed and time has been spent improving the local social media presence, including a new updated recruitment page on the UAMS South website.

UAMS South Central

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

As we reflect over the past year, we can see many accomplishments and are proud of being a part of Team UAMS at the UAMS South Central Regional Campus. Through a year of great change and challenges, the mission has always remained the same. Our mission is to provide programs to improve distribution, diversity, supply, and quality of healthcare providers, specifically for rural and underserved areas across the state.

As we train resident physicians for the future, a top priority is to retain those physicians in Arkansas. In our graduating class of 2020, five of the nine residents remained in Arkansas to practice.

When the year began, UAMS South Central was settling into our new 34,000 square foot, state of the art facility that will serve the patients in the South Central region for many years to come. Feedback from patients and staff has been excellent and we continue to learn from and build on that feedback to continually enhance the experience for everyone.

This year, we, along with the rest of the world, experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, which has changed everything about health care and how we operate. Although COVID has mandated some change, the desire for excellent patient care has not changed. Through this challenging time, we have had to become creative with ways to take care of our patients and ensure their needs are met. To better serve our patients, we implemented telephone visits to allow patients to receive the care they need at a time where it was difficult to see the patient face to face. We also implemented virtual visits, which allow the patient and provide to see each other for a visit using a laptop, PC, or smart phone.

Patients have been very accepting and supportive of these methods of patient care, as they understand how important it is for each of us to be safe and protected appropriately.

For the last 12 years, UAMS South Central has been fortunate to operate the Veterans Affairs Pine Bluff Community Based Outpatient Clinic (VA CBOC) through an agreement with Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System (CAVHS). As of July 1, 2020, CAVHS has assumed operation oversight of this clinic. It has truly been an honor to work with CAVHS to meet the needs of Veterans in our catchment area. Serving those who have served us is rewarding.

UAMS South Central remains committed to actively engaging medical and other UAMS students in clinical rotations, although those experiences were also interrupted during the spring and summer. Our recruitment specialist continues to work with communities throughout southeast Arkansas, and with HBCUs at University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff and Philander Smith to help strengthen the support for underrepresented minority students to enter health careers.

Additionally, as of July 1, Mark Deal, former UAMS South Central director and most recently, the regional executive for the South Division of Regional Campuses, encompassing the regional centers in Pine Bluff, Helena, Magnolia, and Texarkana, has moved to his next stage of retirement. Mark spent the last 7 years with UAMS, working in various roles throughout the state. Mark has been an asset to UAMS and Regional Campuses, and we wish him the very best as he transitions to this new stage of life.

UAMS South Central

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

This year has seen many challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many medical providers, we embraced technology with virtual visits. Patients were receptive, and it allowed us to reach those with transportation barriers in ways we were unable to before. Additionally, UAMS Southwest hosted a free COVID screening and testing site in April.

UAMS Southwest also implemented a texting service to follow-up on patient experiences, and received very positive feedback. Using this service has allowed us to connect with patients in a comfortable format and capture their experience while it is fresh, for more authentic feedback.

Our specialist telehealth clinics continue to be well received by patients. In addition to increasing patients in our five existing telehealth clinics, we now offer tele-retinal and behavioral medicine, for a total of seven telehealth clinics. Transplant follow-up telehealth visits will be added within the next year.

The Family Medical Center (FMC) and All for Kids (AFC) clinic are preparing to change electronic medical records systems. While the FMC works to move to EPIC with the other Regional Campuses, AFK is transitioning to E-Clinical Works in line with other FQHCs in Arkansas and Texas.

For the third year in a row, FMC passed the Arkansas Medicaid Care Plan audit. Our Quality Improvement project focused on increasing blood pressure rechecks on patients with a BP of 140/90 or higher. Rechecks showed a 47% improvement among participants’ overall BP, and 72% improvement in systolic rates.

Plans are nearing completion for our on-site clinic at Fouke School District, which will be the only medical facility in the rural community, and will see students and community members.

Our residency program has continued accreditation with no citations. Two recent graduates have been selected for fellowships: Sterling Brown, M.D., in Emergency Medicine and Elizabeth Eoff, M.D., in Geriatrics. Residents and faculty have continued to teach medical, pharmacy, physician assistant, and behavioral health students, with accommodations to teach virtually made during the pandemic.

In August, Matthew Nix, M.D., was installed as pPresident of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the state’s largest medical specialty organization. UAMS hosted the 22nd annual Sports Medicine Symposium. This popular conference covered a variety of sports related injuries and illnesses. Speakers were Michael Downs, M.D., Ramon Ylanan, M.D., Russ Nelson, PT, PhD, SCS, ATC, and Trey Mitchell, M.D.

UAMS Southwest Campus formed an Employee Engagement Committee to help staff connect with each other and patients. Employees organized a children’s shoe drive, fed 20 families with Thanksgiving dinner boxes, and embraced a family of eight for Christmas. AFK team members also completed “FISH” training, which emphasizes the importance of being connected with colleagues and customers. Providers also connected with patients at the Wadley Breastfeeding Celebration and Wild About Wellness Children’s Health Fair. Staff participated in the Blue and You challenge as the Go Getters and came in first among Regional Campuses.

UAMS West

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

This year has been unprecedented to say the very least, but there were also many positive things in 2019-2020 to build upon as we embark on the journey toward UAMS Vision 2029 and align with the UAMS strategic plan.

Much time and effort has been spent on the Epic EMR build and working with the Campus Epic transition team to customize our future EMR to meet our needs. Our center plans to Go-Live in Wave #4 in November 2020. Along the way, we have been identifying best practices, whether they are on campus or at another REP site, which should serve us well in the future. We appreciate the excellent communication and support we’ve received from the campus Epic transition team.

UAMS West started an outdoor drive-thru clinic in which patients with qualifying symptoms would be screened and potentially tested for COVID-19. From the time the pandemic began, the drive-thru clinic conducted 519 visits, and faculty, residents, and staff really stepped up to the challenge as we’ve been short staffed and protocols have changed at a rapid pace.

Bryan Clardy, MD, who serves with the AR-1 Disaster Medical Assistance (DMAT), was deployed to Miami for the Hurricane Dorian response for 8 days in September 2019. He was again deployed to Oakland, California to Travis Air Force Base for a COVID-19 quarantine mission to unload passengers of the Grand Princess Cruise liner. Clardy’s expertise with such events proved to be invaluable with our program’s preparation for the current COVID-19 pandemic.

Our faculty and residents completed several scholarly/research activities in 2019-2020. Lyndsey Kramp, as lead faculty mentor on statewide and national scholarly presentations, provided oversight for residents on presentations: “Major Depression in Remission, Chronic Kidney Disease: A Quality Improvement Project, Improving Chronic Kidney Disease in Primary Care, and Promoting Heart Health and Health Literacy with Food and Education in the Hispanic Pediatric Population with UAMS West.” Bryan Clardy, MD presented “Northwest Arkansas Opioid Task Force” at the 2019 Arkansas Opioid Epidemic Forum in Little Rock.

Since the UAMS Vision 2029 plan aligns with three components of the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI) triple aim and all the value based programs, our QI team has been determined to continue providing patient-centered care and keep up with all the transformational policies and processes to sustain our patient-centered medical homH recognition. In December of 2019, we successfully renewed our recognition through the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for another year.

Jennifer Becker, our pediatric nurse practitioner, received her doctor of nursing with distinction degree in Spring 2020. We want to congratulate her on this outstanding achievement and we are very lucky to have her as a part of our team here at UAMS West.

Christopher Fortson, MD, a valuable faculty member and colleague left UAMS West effective 4/1/2020, after serving as assistant professor for 5 years. We wish Fortson the best of luck and appreciate his hard work and dedication over the past 5 years.

In times like these, we are reminded how important the work is that we do in regards to medical education and patient care. The staff have shown a great deal of resilience. We will continue focusing on doing what we do well, which is providing high- quality care to patients through excellent education to the health care professionals we train.

Key Partners

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

UAMS Campus

Educational programs at UAMS Regional Campuses 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 virtually.

Regional Faculty

Our directors and faculty 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. M*A*S*H programs are made possible through long- term support of Arkansas Farm Bureau and Arkansas Blue Cross/ Blue Shield. We partner with HOSA on programs.

We collaborate with the Office of Rural Health & Primary Care, hospitals, nursing homes, and others on rural and primary care workforce issues. 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 — Pine Bluff and Philander Smith College.

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

Rural Health Association of Arkansas

What began several years ago as a small informal network of like-minded rural advocates who convened at a Rural Health Summit, with Mark Jansen, MD, and other Regional Campuses staff and faculty leading the charge, has now expanded to a broad-based statewide coalition. This year saw the launch of the Rural Health Association of Arkansas (RHAA), which provides context in which ALL rural health stakeholders from every corner of Arkansas can have a seat at the table and coalesce into a united voice to promote a more accessible and equitable system of health care for Arkansans who happen to live in the more rural areas of our state.

The goal of RHAA is to be an effective network of bridge builders, with an accessible and functional infrastructure, to provide a venue for the broadest range of rural health advocates to voice and navigate concerns, to help consolidate and amplify their messages, and to pursue mutually beneficial solutions. We seek to inspire healthier rural communities across Arkansas, through better communication, collaboration, education, advocacy and improved access to information, resources, best practices, and policies.See Rural Health Association of Arkansas.

Affiliated Community Hospitals

We hold formal agreements with the community hospitals below as host institutions and training facilities. Deep appreciation is extended to these partners, which contribute facilities, funds, and staff to support 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 Arkansas Veterans Home – Fayetteville Northwest Health Physicians’ Specialty Hospital Springdale Health and Rehabilitation Center

UAMS South

Magnolia Regional Medical Center
Arkansas Children’s Hospital – Little Rock
Medical Center of South Arkansas – El Dorado, AR

UAMS South Central

Jefferson Regional

UAMS Southwest

CHRISTUS St. Michael Health System Wadley Regional Medical Center

UAMS West

Baptist Health Fort Smith