Helena Health Foundation Gives $10,000 for UAMS Education Fund In Memory of Delta Pharmacist Gerald Glass

By todd

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LITTLE ROCK – The Helena Health Foundation today presented a $10,000 check to help establish an education fund in memory of Delta community leader and pharmacist Gerald J. Glass at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Pharmacy.


The check was presented to Becky Hall, Ed.D., director of the UAMS Delta Area Health Education Center (AHEC) in Helena-West Helena. The fund will be used to provide continuing education lectures for pharmacists to be held at the AHEC.


The $10,000 gift is part of $24,978 raised for the fund so far. Hall, her husband, Clark Hall, and Jane Glass, all of Marvell, also have made lead gifts, along with donations from seven other Delta area residents.


“We are grateful to Mrs. Glass, the Halls, the Helena Health Foundation and other area donors for their gifts. We also are pleased to partner with the Delta AHEC in this program to memorialize Dr. Glass and help improve the health outcomes for residents in the Delta,” said College of Pharmacy Dean Stephanie Gardner.


The program fund hopes to raise $40,000, said Jonathan Wolfe, Ph.D., associate dean at the college. To make a gift to the fund, contact Wolfe at (501) 686-6498 or wolfejj@uams.edu.


Glass, who served as an early proponent of local continuing education for pharmacists, died Oct. 7, 2005. He was the longtime owner of Anderson‘s Drug Store and practiced pharmacy in Marvell for more than 50 years. He was a past district chairman of the Arkansas Pharmacy Association.


The programs will cover diabetes, coronary heart disease, long term care, asthma, poison control, addictive and compulsive behaviors, mental illness and other issues. The Delta AHEC will partner with the College of Pharmacy in fund raising and in administering the program.


The first program, “Diabetes Update,” will be held Nov. 5 at the Delta AHEC, 1393 Highway 242 South. It will be conducted by Eric Schneider, Pharm.D., clinical associate professor of family medicine in the College of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For information contact Charlotte Robertson at (501) 686-5558 or RobertsonCharlotteL@uams.edu.


The UAMS College of Pharmacy was established in 1951 and has 360 students.


The nonprofit Helena Health Foundation was organized in March of 2002 to support and improve the public well-being and quality of life in Phillips County, especially in health care matters. The Foundation recommends prudent and creative grants to address the community needs in a wide range of charitable activities in health care and provides leadership in identifying and addressing community health problems and opportunities.


 


UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, six 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 9,400 employees, including nearly 1,000 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $4.5 billion a year. For more information, visit www.uams.edu.