UAMS 12th Street Health & Wellness Center to Provide Health Screenings Dec. 1 for World AIDS Day
| Nov. 17, 2016 | In observance of World AIDS Day, the public is invited to participate in free health care screenings from 5-8 p.m. Dec. 1 at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) 12th Street Health & Wellness Center, 4010 W. 12th St.
The center will provide free HIV testing. The testing will be available without needles using a mouth swab. People also are invited to receive free health checks for blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose as well as general physical examinations. Test results will be available at the event, too.
Representatives of ARCare, LINQ for Life and student organizations will be on hand for the event. A private, nonprofit organization, ARCare provides affordable primary and dental care at 27 locations in Arkansas with a focus on patient, community and employee health. Linq for Life, also a nonprofit organization, works to educate and increase the awareness about HIV and AIDS.
“The students, faculty and volunteers of the center are eager to improve even further on our World AIDS Day efforts last year and again bring HIV testing to our patients while raising public awareness of HIV and AIDS,” said Lanita White, Pharm.D., director of the UAMS 12th Street Health & Wellness Center. “This event gives us a chance to reach out to this underserved community. According to the Arkansas Department of Health, more than 5,000 Arkansans are living with HIV/AIDS but only half of those individuals actually are receiving care for it.”
Adult-supervised activities for children also are slated for the event. For more information, visit www.Healthon12th.uams.edu or call the UAMS 12th Street Health & Wellness Center at (501) 614-2492.
The 12th Street Health & Wellness Center is a free clinic run by students under supervision of faculty and other licensed volunteers. It provides students from the UAMS Colleges of Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Public Health and the Graduate School an avenue to learn about, from and with each other in an interprofessional center. The center focuses on education, prevention and management of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. It also provides information about healthy living, preventive care, consultations and screenings for residents of the Little Rock Promise Neighborhood and surrounding areas.
UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a northwest Arkansas regional campus; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,021 students, 789 medical residents and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 physicians and other professionals who provide care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS regional centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.