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Following his annual State of the University Address, Chancellor Cam Patterson answers questions from the audience. Michael Manley, left, moderated the Q&A session. Image by Bryan Clifton

Positive News on Finances Leads Off State of the University Address

March 21, 2025 | In its financial performance, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has joined a group of high-performing hospitals, Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, said March 18 during his annual State of the University Address.

The State of the University event was co-sponsored by the Academic Senate and House of Delegates.

Ronald Sanders, M.D., president of the Academic Senate, opened the event, and after a new video was shown highlighting the university’s accomplishments, Dana Metcalf, chair of the House of Delegates, introduced the chancellor.

“The health care component of our university has a positive margin of $31.3 million or 2.9%,” he said. “If you know anything about medical center margins in 2025, a margin of 3% is remarkable and would put us in the top third of medical centers across the country. Not academic medical centers, not-for-profit academic medical centers, all medical centers.”

Overall, on a year-to-date basis, UAMS had an overall increase of net position of about $350,000. UAMS Health had a prior year margin of $18 million or 1.9%, so the $31.1 million represented a year-over-year improvement of $13.3 million.

“The margin generated from the clinical enterprise is important,” Patterson said. “Because that provides financial support for our academic and research missions, which do not by themselves cover their own costs.”

Despite the progress, he said UAMS still has more work to do and must maintain its financial and administrative vigilance as the university also faces several uncertainties primarily related to federal support for clinical and research missions.

“That could potentially have a negative financial impact on UAMS. So, finances continue to and should remain top of mind for us as we think about the remainder of this year and looking into fiscal year 2026,” Patterson said.

UAMS is about at the midpoint in implementing its 10-year strategic plan, Patterson said, adding that progress has been good. In the last year, the university has doubled the number of projects and initiatives that have been achieved.

On the clinical side of things, one of the top goals in the plan was to achieve nursing magnet status, which drives improvements in patient care, job satisfaction and nursing recruitment. After a years-long effort, that was achieved in November 2024.

Another goal is for the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute to earn National Cancer Institute designation. Patterson said that an external advisory board of leaders from NCI-designated cancer centers gave the Cancer Institute’s preparations to apply for designation a favorable report in mid-February. UAMS hopes to submit the formal application before year’s end.

“Maternal health and infant mortality are huge problems in our state, and we are honored by the trust that has been put in us by our leaders, including Gov. Sarah Sanders and Sen. John Boozman, who have helped UAMS in receiving a $5 million congressional appropriation,” the chancellor said.

A little less than a year ago, the university also opened a new Family Medical Center in El Dorado to provide primary care to south Arkansas.

Another strategic priority for UAMS was to develop at least five new educational programs based on the state’s healthcare workforce shortages.

“And this is where the impact of Vision 2029 can be seen not just now but moving into the future,” Patterson said. “After strategic discussions, we actually grew not five but six new programs. So, that’s a goal UAMS has met and even exceeded this year.”

The six include: an accelerated program to earn a Bachelor of Science degree in nursing, a graduate certificate in nursing education, a primary care nursing practitioner program, an acute care nurse practitioner program, a nurse midwifery program and a three-year primary care M.D. track.

The chancellor said UAMS also is halfway to its 2029 target of adding 100 new first-year graduate medical education slots in the state of Arkansas.

“Two weeks ago, we received data from the Association of American Medical Colleges, and this is an area where UAMS truly excels at the national level when we compare ourselves to medical schools from around the country,” Patterson said.

The number of UAMS graduates is near the national mean for new M.D.’s practicing in primary care and with 40% practicing in state, greatly exceeds the 26% national average. The number of trainees practicing in rural areas is more than double the national average.

“Now, lastly, I’d like to say a few words about our research productivity, which continues to excel here at UAMS,” he said. “Our research mission continues to make us the lead in state for research funding, and I’d like to emphasize a few highlights of our accomplishments in this space.”

Among the highlights he cited were:

• Receiving a $31.7 million grant renewal of funding for the Translational Research Institute.
• Receiving a five-year $11.5 million federal grant to create the Center for Molecular Interactions with Cancer, and fund two new research cores in the Cancer Institute.
• Establishing the eighth UAMS institute and its first one that is based in Northwest Arkansas, the Institute for Community Health Innovation.
• Seeing Marius Nagalo earn a prestigious $2.3 million new innovator award from the director of the National Institutes of Health, the first UAMS researcher to receive this award.

“Another important accomplishment for making UAMS an employer of choice was the opening of the UAMS Child Development Center in Little Rock,” Patterson said, a 20,000 square foot facility to provide child care for children of UAMS students and employees.”

The center opened in May 2024.