White County Citizens Invited to May 8 Meeting to Address Local Health Issues With State Lawmakers

By todd

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LITTLE ROCK – White County citizens are invited to hear experts from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Public Health at a special legislative meeting May 8 in Judsonia on public health.


Called by state Sen. Jack Critcher of Batesville, the meeting is to inform local government officials, local public health groups and White County residents about public health issues that may affect their area, such as emergency preparedness, pandemic influenza, student body mass index testing, and Arkansas tobacco programs.


The meeting will be at 1 p.m. in the White County Central School auditorium at 3259 Arkansas Highway 157 in Judsonia.


The interim Senate and House Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee, which Critcher co-chairs, was scheduled to meet in White County on April 10, but was postponed because of the recent special session of the Legislature.


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 2,320 students and 690 medical residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 9,300 employees, including nearly 1,000 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and the VA Medical Center. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $4.4 billion a year.