UAMS, Helena Hospital to Sign Co-Management Agreement
| The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Helena Hospital are planning to sign a co-management agreement, pending final approval by the Arkansas Department of Health. The agreement was approved Thursday by the Helena Hospital Board of Governors.
Under the agreement, the Helena Hospital will retain its assets, operations, and oversight of the hospital. No immediate changes to patient services, hospital staff, or daily operations will result from the agreement. This agreement will bring direct access to UAMS’ world-class specialists, academic programs, and clinical research in addition to assisting the hospital in identifying opportunities to improve daily operations.
UAMS, the state’s only academic health system, and Helena Hospital have worked together for many years. UAMS operates its East Regional Campus in Helena-West Helena, training primary care resident physicians and providing direct primary and specialty care, geriatric and wellness programs, and youth educational outreach to the Arkansas Delta region. UAMS East has additional offices in Lake Village and West Memphis.
“UAMS is committed to working alongside community hospitals to improve health and expand access to care across Arkansas,” said C. Lowry Barnes, M.D., UAMS chancellor. “This affiliation with Helena Hospital will strengthen healthcare services in the Delta and help ensure that patients can receive more of the care they need close to home.”
“Our partnership with UAMS reflects a shared commitment to improving the health of the people of the Delta,” said Ed Pat Wright, Pharm.D., of the Helena Health Foundation. “This agreement will help Helena Hospital expand access to high-quality care, strengthen clinical services and create new opportunities to meet the evolving health needs of our patients. We are excited about what this collaboration means for the future of healthcare in our region.”
Helena Hospital is a rural emergency hospital (REH) serving the Mississippi Delta area and its residents. The hospital also operates two Rural Health Clinics located in Helena-West Helena and Marianna.
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.###