Council for Regional Health Education Gift to UAMS Creates Endowed Fund to Support Southwest Arkansas Residencies
| LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) received a $75,000 gift from the Council for Regional Health Education to establish the Senator C. Wayne Dowd Endowed Excellence Fund in Family Medicine to support the Family Medicine Residency Program at the UAMS Southwest Regional Campus in Texarkana, Arkansas.
“I want to extend my gratitude to the Council for Regional Health Education for their generous philanthropic support and their advocacy of Southwest Arkansas,” said Brian W. Jones, DHSc, vice chancellor for Regional Campuses. “Replacing retiring doctors in rural areas of the state is a major task for UAMS, and we believe that this support of Southwest Regional Campus’ residency program will certainly help create future doctors that Miller County and the surrounding area need to thrive.”
The fund was created to honor the legacy of state Sen. C. Wayne Dowd, who served in the Arkansas Senate from 1979 to 2000. A Texarkana native, Dowd was a visionary leader and advocate for rural health, and he was instrumental in establishing the Family Medicine Residency Program. As a dedicated patient, advocate and board member of the Council for Regional Health Education, he understood the transformative power of local training and rural health access. Dowd passed away in 2016.
At the discretion of the Southwest Regional Campus Family Residency Program director, funds may be used to support recruitment and retention efforts, professional development and training, student support and recognition, and for related activities that promote medical education.
The Council for Regional Health Education was formed in 1994 to promote and enhance health education in Southwest Arkansas and Northeast Texas.
“The Council for Regional Health Education is delighted to provide this endowment in memory of the late Arkansas State Senator and Board President, Wayne Dowd,” said Bob Bruggeman, Board President of the Council for Regional Health Education. “This contribution assists in fulfilling our mission of providing support to students in the area of health education.”
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 3,553 students and 902 medical residents and fellows. It is the state’s largest public employer with about 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.###