UAMS Deploys Mobile Health Unit to South Arkansas
| FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) deployed a mobile health unit in south Arkansas to provide better access to health care in Ashley, Columbia, Ouachita and Union counties.
UAMS staff and the El Dorado Chamber of Commerce celebrated the unit’s arrival with a ribbon-cutting Oct. 8, outside the El Dorado Union County Chamber of Commerce. Participants were able to tour the unit after the ceremony.
Arkansas ranks poorly in numerous health outcomes, including food insecurity, access to health care, cardiometabolic disease, and maternal and child health. Counties in more rural areas of Arkansas, such as those in the south and Delta regions, experience even poorer health outcomes and face additional barriers to accessing health care.
Through pop-up events, the mobile unit provides free health screenings, vaccines and health care navigation services to anyone who attends. The mobile health events are organized and staffed by UAMS nurses and community health workers who can offer connections to local resources. Translation services are available for anyone who speaks another language.
“By bringing these services to those in rural areas, we hope to reduce barriers Arkansans face when accessing health care,” said Victoria Dempsey, a project manager at the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation. “We will also focus on establishing relationships with community partners to identify and reach those most in need.”
Health screenings at the events include cholesterol checks, diabetes testing, blood pressure screenings as well as vaccinations for COVID-19 and flu.
Thanks to a private philanthropic grant awarded to the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation this year, UAMS is also able to provide prenatal care services and reproductive and contraceptive services at certain mobile health events.
“With more and more hospital closures across Arkansas, it has made an apparent impact on the more rural parts of Arkansas, particularly in south Arkansas where several labor and delivery units closed affecting the health of our mothers and children,” said Sarah Sixbey, a nurse educator at the UAMS institute. “The mobile health unit can help us to eliminate the barriers that prevent our communities from receiving the health care they need.”
The UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation has deployed mobile health units across the state, wherever care is most needed. To find out more about the mobile health initiatives or to see where the next mobile health event is, visit communityhealth.uams.edu.
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.###