UAMS Set to Open Eighth Area Health Education Center
| LITTLE ROCK – North central AHEC North Central will be 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 will work closely with the “Like all of our AHECs, the goal for AHEC North Central is to help increase the number of health care providers and improve the quality of health care, especially in small and rural communities,” said Charles O. Cranford, D.D.S., vice chancellor for regional programs and executive director of the AHEC Program. “This AHEC center will extend UAMS programs into a part of the state that has been underserved.” Batesville, about 75 miles southeast of Mountain Home, will serve as AHEC North Central’s primary administrative office, but the two locations will offer equal programs. The AHEC will serve 10 counties: Baxter, “UAMS has had the privilege of operating an AHEC system that is nationally recognized for effectively delivering health care and health care education to areas of the state that need it most,” said UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D. “We’re excited about establishing our newest AHEC and developing new partnerships in north-central The Arkansas Legislature earlier this year approved two years of funding for the new AHEC totaling $2.6 million. Like the state’s seven other AHECs, AHEC North Central will rely heavily on local support. The two colleges will provide space for the AHEC in new buildings being constructed on each campus. Until those facilities are completed, the AHEC will occupy temporary space as programs are selected and put in place. AHEC North Central, like the Delta AHEC in Gary L. Bebow, White River Health System administrator and chief executive officer, said he is pleased with the partnerships. “Ensuring the availability of well-trained health professionals is one of the White River Health System’s important strategic initiatives,” Bebow said. Deborah Frazier, UACCB chancellor, said her institution is eager to embark on the partnerships. “AHEC North Central will allow UACCB to continue to explore new programs for nursing and allied health while expanding and strengthening current programs and services to area residents,” Frazier said. Robert Kerr, M.D., acting CEO of the Ed Coulter, chancellor of ASU Mountain Home, said Mountain Home has a lot to celebrate today and for the future of the area. “A new AHEC, a new The AHEC Program was established in 1973 by the Legislature and then-Gov. Dale Bumpers as UAMS’ primary educational outreach effort and as the sate’s strategy for decentralizing the education of physicians and other health professionals. Since that time, the AHECs have played a critical role in making health care more accessible to rural residents throughout the state. Seven teaching centers in 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 2,430 students and 715 medical residents. It is one of the state’s largest public employers with about 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’
Arkansas.”