Delta Center on Aging Dedicated in West Memphis

By todd

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LITTLE ROCK – Seniors in Arkansas’ Delta region can look forward to better geriatric educational and clinical initiatives, thanks to the new Delta Center on Aging in West Memphis.


 


The center, a program of the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), officially opened today following a ribbon-cutting ceremony by the West Memphis Chamber of Commerce. The center, at 200 Tyler St., is designed to raise the awareness level and standard of care on aging-related health care issues in a nine-county region. .


The Delta Center on Aging is the result of a unique partnership between the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging at UAMS, the UAMS Delta Area Health Education Center and Crittenden Memorial Hospital in West Memphis. The center serves Mississippi, Poinsett, Cross, St. Francis, Monroe, Lee, Phillips, Chicot and Deshea counties as part of the Arkansas Aging Initiative (AAI).


The AAI, a program of the Institute on Aging at UAMS, is supported by funds from a voter-approved plan designating the spending for Arkansas’ share of the funds received through the national tobacco settlement.


“This new center will provide an array of much-needed services for the seniors of Arkansas’ Delta region. We believe very firmly that each of our seven regional centers on aging have an important role to play by providing vital information and programs to help entire sections of the state age more healthfully,” said Claudia Beverly, Ph.D., R.N., director of the Arkansas Aging Initiative.


A total of seven centers located throughout the state work independently to guarantee all older Arkansans access to quality health care within a 50-mile radius of their homes. Other regional centers are in El Dorado, Jonesboro, Pine Bluff, Springdale, Fort Smith and Texarkana.


Each regional center consists of a Senior Health Center and a Center for Senior Education. The Senior Health Center is developed by local hospitals and offers services such as primary care, specialty care, consultation, health promotion, coordination of care and rehabilitation to older adults and their families. The Centers for Senior Education seek to raise awareness of senior health issues through informational programs for the public and health care professionals.


UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, five centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has about 2,200 students and 660 residents and is the state’s largest public employer with almost 9,000 employees. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $4.3 billion a year.


UAMS centers of excellence are the Arkansas Cancer Research Center, Harvey and Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy and Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute.