UAMS Rural Health Hub


July 18, 2022

UAMS Receives USDA $738,000 Grant to Purchase Digital Health Equipment for Rural Sites, Including Prisons

Tim Taylor

“We are happy to provide this equipment to our partner organizations and thankful to the USDA for their support,” said Joseph Sanford, M.D., director of the UAMS Institute for Digital Health & Innovation.

LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) recently received a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture that will go towards the purchase of equipment to provide long-distance learning opportunities to 36 sites around the state, including six prisons.


June 24, 2022

UAMS, Arkansas Rural Health Partnership Partner to Provide Community Health Workers in Chicot County

David Wise

Chicot County on Arkansas map

FAYETTEVILLE – Four community health workers were hired recently through a partnership between the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Arkansas Rural Health Partnership to help people in Chicot County navigate the health care system. As embedded community health workers, Autumn Bridwell, Jana Kamal, Anna Ragland, and Ileen Talavera are available to answer…


February 4, 2022

Arkansas Rural Health Partnership Hires Rex Jones as CEO, Names Mellie Bridewell New President

Yavonda Chase

Rex Jones is joining the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership as CEO in May, while current CEO Mellie Bridewell assumes as new role as president of the nonprofit.

LITTLE ROCK — Rex Jones is joining the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership (ARHP) as chief executive officer, effective May 1, 2022. He will succeed Mellie Bridewell, who will continue to serve the nonprofit as president, a new senior leadership position that will allow her to focus on strategic growth initiatives for the organization.


September 23, 2021

UAMS Receives Additional $4.75 Million to Train Primary Care Physicians, Improve Rural Health Care

Linda Satter

Spencer Parnell and Caroline Geels, first-year students in the College of Medicine's new 3-year M.D. program, practice CPR on a training manikin at the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus in Fayetteville.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has received an additional $4.75 million in federal grant money to continue efforts to improve health care in rural Arkansas through training and retaining primary care physicians. The supplemental award from the Health Resources and Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,…


February 12, 2021

UAMS Rural Telehealth Center Receives $1.5 Million to Evaluate Broadband Pilot Program’s COVID-19 Response

Ben Boulden

Hari Eswaran and Mellie Bridewell

LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Rural Telehealth Evaluation Center has received a $1.5 million federal grant to evaluate the performance of the Telehealth Broadband Pilot Program in preventing, preparing for and responding to COVID-19. The Health Resources & Services Administration’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy awarded the grant…


November 10, 2020

UAMS to Test Telehealth to Improve Death Rate Among Rural Pregnant Women

David Robinson

Dr. Hari Eswaran

LITTLE ROCK – Researchers at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will use a $228,000 federal grant to test telehealth as a way to improve Arkansas’ death rate among pregnant women, which ranks fifth nationally. Led by UAMS’ Hari Eswaran, Ph.D., the research team will focus on remote health monitoring of pregnant women…


October 13, 2020

NIH Funds $2.5 Million UAMS Study of Healthy-Food Delivery to Combat Diabetes in Rural Arkansas

David Robinson

UAMS researchers in Northwest Arkansas have built partnerships in the region to enable delivery of healthy foods. (file photo)

LITTLE ROCK — A first-of-its-kind study by UAMS will test whether deliveries of healthy food, along with recipes and education materials, can help reduce type 2 diabetes among food-insecure rural Arkansans. The National Institute of Nursing Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is funding the five-year, $2.5 million study by researchers at the…


September 1, 2020

UAMS Awarded $3.8 Million for National Research Center To Study Effectiveness of Digital Health in Rural Health Care

Ben Boulden

Communication tower standing tall in the country side of Alabama.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Institute for Digital Health & Innovation has received a four-year $3.8 million grant from the federal Health Resources & Services Administration to establish a national research center. The center will examine the effectiveness of digital health in delivering health care in rural areas and hospitals. The grant…


January 28, 2020

Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield Gives $817,000 to Upgrade Digital Health Network in State’s Rural Hospitals

Ben Boulden

CEOs of Arkansas hospitals that are part of the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership, UAMS and Blue Cross and Blue Shield officials gather for a group photo after a news conference in Pine Bluff.

Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield has awarded $817,000 to the Arkansas Rural Health Partnership to help South Arkansas hospitals and clinics improve how they exchange patient information and ensure better continuity of care during patient transfers.



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