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UAMS Northeast Celebrates New Clinic Space, Offices

April 23, 2015 | April 23, 2015 | The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Northeast today celebrated its move to a new, larger and more accessible location at 311 E. Matthews St. in Jonesboro.

UAMS Northeast began serving patients there in February, moving from its previous East Jackson Avenue location. It includes UAMS Family Medical Center Jonesboro, a training program for family medicine residents, community health education programs, and continuing education for health professionals.

The move and renovations to the four-story building were made possible by support from the Middleton Family and the Judd Hill Foundation.

“The Middleton family was happy to provide support to UAMS Northeast and its Family Medical Center so it can serve the region even more effectively,” said Mark Middleton. “A first-rate program devoted to patient care and training good physicians engaged in that care deserves a building better suited to that purpose.”

Both access and functionality have been improved by the move. The new 36,612-square-foot facility features 20,753 square feet of that on the ground floor for clinic space, enabling drop-off access for patients. The previous facility’s entire clinic and office space was just 22,000 square foot and had no ground-floor access.

“At the new offices in Jonesboro, UAMS Northeast and the Family Medical Center are even better positioned to serve its patients and the region,” said Ron Cole, director of UAMS Northeast. “In 2014, we earned the highest level patient-centered medical home status. The new facility means we can maintain that standard as we provide proactive services to help our patients avoid or delay the onset of illness through education and wellness efforts.”

UAMS regional centers, including UAMS Northeast, use interprofessional teams to provide health care to its patients. In the new location, the Family Medical Center’s teams of physicians, nurses and pharmacists will have meeting space expressly for the purpose of conferring before seeing patients.

Planning also is underway for UAMS Northeast to begin providing urgent care services at the new location sometime in the next 12 months.

“UAMS is grateful to the Middleton family and the Judd Hill Foundation for their generosity in making this move possible,” said UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D. “Their investment in Jonesboro demonstrates that not only is the presence of UAMS statewide but its partnerships are too. Our reach is broad and our roots only grow deeper in places like Jonesboro as we reach to achieve our goal of a better state of health for all Arkansans.”

UAMS Family Medical Center Jonesboro provides primary care medical services to patients of all ages. It offers treatment of acute medical conditions and ongoing treatment for chronic conditions such as asthma, diabetes, hypertension and arthritis. The clinic provides convenient diagnostic and support services on site and minor office surgical procedures. It serves the 10-county region of Clay, Craighead, Cross, Greene, Jackson, Lawrence, Mississippi, Poinsett, Randolph and Woodruff counties.

Through its programs operating at UAMS Northeast and the university’s other regional centers, UAMS trains medical residents in family medicine while providing clinical care and health education services around the state. St. Bernards Health Care in Jonesboro also has been a valuable partner with UAMS, providing operational support to UAMS Northeast and its programs. UAMS Northeast trains eight medical residents a year with St. Bernards covering the cost of six of those residency positions.