UAMS Terminates Services with Proton International Arkansas in Response to Nonpayment Under Breached Agreement
| LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has terminated its Ancillary Personnel and Support Service Agreement with Proton International Arkansas, LLC (PIA), effective today, due to nonpayment of fees.
UAMS will continue providing care to existing patients currently undergoing treatment at the Proton Center of Arkansas to ensure they can complete their treatment regimens without interruption.
Consistent with its mission, UAMS will evaluate new patient requests for care on a case-by-case basis, giving particular consideration to pediatric patients and certain adult patients for whom proton therapy is medically necessary and conventional photon therapy is not a clinically appropriate alternative. If/when balances owed to UAMS are paid in full by PIA, UAMS will resume proton treatment to all new patients.
“As Arkansas’ only academic medical center, UAMS must balance its regulatory and compliance obligations with our mission to serve the people of Arkansas,” said Amanda George, CPA, MHSA, UAMS Vice Chancellor for Finance, in a letter to Chris Chandler, CEO of Proton International, the managing partner of PIA. “Unfortunately, UAMS cannot continue providing uncompensated services under these agreements.”
“UAMS remains committed to the Proton Center as an essential part of advanced cancer care in Arkansas,” said UAMS Chancellor C. Lowry Barnes, M.D. “We are working diligently to identify the best path forward for this facility and the patients who depend on it.”
Earlier this month, UAMS notified PIA of past-due balances under two agreements, the Proton Therapy Physician Services Agreement and the Proton Therapy Ancillary Personnel and Support Services Agreement and demanded payment by May 28, 2026. PIA has since paid the amount due under the Physician Services Agreement in full, and that agreement remains in effect. The past-due balance under the Ancillary Personnel and Support Services Agreement at the time of the letter, totaling $686,354.37, has not been paid. An additional invoice has since become past due, and the current past due balance is now $915,584.43. UAMS also worked with bondholders to explore a potential interim funding solution that could have temporarily delayed termination of the agreements. That proposal did not move forward.
Earlier this year, PIA filed covenant compliance disclosures on the Electronic Municipal Market Access (EMMA) system addressing liquidity and missed debt service coverage metrics. The bond documents governing PIA provide an established process for review and corrective action in these circumstances.
UAMS is a minority member of PIA (20%), along with Baptist Health (15%), and Arkansas Children’s (10%). UAMS does not operate the Proton Center and is not responsible for its day-to-day management. Proton International is the managing partner (55%).
UAMS is also a vendor and landlord to PIA with contractual agreements under which PIA is obligated to make payments to UAMS for physician services, ancillary support, and facility lease obligations. PIA has failed to meet those payment obligations alongside its ongoing financial challenges. In accordance with the terms of those agreements, UAMS issued formal notices of breach to PIA on May 8, 2026. This triggered another EMMA filing by PIA. UAMS has an obligation as a state entity to ensure its contractual and compliance obligations are met and cannot continue to provide services without compensation indefinitely.
UAMS is actively engaged with relevant financial advisors and stakeholders to evaluate all available options and identify a path that keeps the Proton Center operating on a sustainable footing while ensuring UAMS meets its requirements as the state’s only academic medical center.
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 1,015 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.###