American Hospital Association Certifies UAMS’ Cotten As Healthcare Facility Manager
| LITTLE ROCK – Brian Cotten, director of construction management at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock, was recently designated a certified healthcare facility manager by the American Hospital Association (AHA). The national credential means that Cotten is “among the elite in a critical field of healthcare management,” according to the AHA. Requirements for the designation include work and experience as well as passing an examination that tests knowledge needed for a health care facility manager in the areas of compliance with industry codes and rules; planning, design and construction; maintenance and operations; finance; and administration. Cotten joined UAMS as director of construction management in 2004, and is responsible for overseeing all planning, design, construction and renovation activity at UAMS. This includes ongoing construction of approximately $400 million in facilities, including a major hospital expansion, an expansion to the Arkansas Cancer Research Center (ACRC), the Psychiatric Research Institute, a residence hall, education building and a parking deck. Before joining UAMS, Cotten served as director of plant operations at 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 2,435 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’