View Larger Image UAMS employees at a community drive-thru COVID-19 screening at Shorter College in North Little Rock on June 30. Multiple donors, from individuals to foundations and corporations, gave more than $285,000 in fiscal 2020 to UAMS to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
UAMS employees at a community drive-thru COVID-19 screening at Shorter College in North Little Rock on June 30. Multiple donors, from individuals to foundations and corporations, gave more than $285,000 in fiscal 2020 to UAMS to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Image by Bryan Clifton

UAMS Tops $41.5 Million in Fundraising for 2020 Fiscal Year

By Benjamin Waldrum

| The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) raised more than $41.5 million for fiscal 2020 ending June 30, more than double the fundraising total for last year.

Angela Wimmer, vice chancellor for Institutional Advancement, made the announcement Aug. 18 at the quarterly meeting of the UAMS Board of Advisors. From July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020, the Office of Institutional Advancement raised $41,574,686 for research, education and clinical care across the health system.

“I am humbled by our donors’ incredible commitment to UAMS and to the health and well-being of every Arkansan,” said UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA. “In addition to providing nationally recognized clinical care, UAMS’ transformative impact is felt around the country and the world. We also continue to work to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and care for those who are battling the virus. We cannot do this work alone. Support from our donors makes it all possible.”

A total of 5,484 donors contributed over the course of fiscal 2020. This includes gifts from 1,409 first-time donors, 786 alumni and 894 UAMS employees. Eleven donors made gifts of $1 million or more. Significant investments included:

  • $6.5 million from an anonymous donor to the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging.
  • $1.5 million from William R. “Bill” Howard to establish a new regional campus in El Dorado.
  • $1.2 million from the Alice L. Walton Foundation to support the UAMS Comprehensive School Nutrition Enrichment Program on the Northwest Regional Campus in Fayetteville.

Several donors also stepped forward to support UAMS through careful estate planning. Total planned giving for fiscal 2020 was $11,786,277, and was included in the grand total. To learn more about planned giving, visit giftplanning.UAMS.edu.

“We are extremely grateful for the outpouring of support across Arkansas and throughout the country,” said Wimmer. “Even during a global pandemic, donors generously gave in support of a wide variety of programs and initiatives – from neonatal intensive care to cardiovascular research for seniors. Thanks to our donors, UAMS will deliver on our promise of a better state of health.”

Private gifts enable UAMS to assist worthy but financially struggling students in continuing their education; attract and retain outstanding faculty and staff; endow academic and medical programming and research, and take advantage of other important opportunities. All areas of the institution benefit from private gifts.

For more information on giving to UAMS, visit giving.UAMS.edu or call 501-686-8200.

UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.

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