UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation


December 10, 2024

UAMS, AmeriCorps VISTA Members Provide Access to Fresh Foods to Nearly a Quarter of a Million Arkansans

David Wise

Daniel Dunlap, AmeriCorps South Central deputy regional administrator, announces a VISTA initiative with UAMS to fight food insecurity.

FAYETTEVILLE — Since September 2023, AmeriCorps Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) members embedded at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Institute for Community Health Innovation have provided access to fresh foods for almost a quarter of a million Arkansans. VISTA is a program that provides full-time volunteers to nonprofit organizations, educational institutions…


December 3, 2024

UAMS Community Health Worker Named to National Advisory Committee

David Wise

Photo of Rosana Solis-Garcia, a certified community health worker (CHW) and mentor at the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation

Rosana Solis-Garcia, a certified community health worker (CHW) and mentor at the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation, was selected recently to serve on the National CHW Policy Working Group Advisory Committee. Solis-Garcia began her work at UAMS in October 2020 in the institute’s contact tracing center, helping individuals and families in Northwest Arkansas navigate…


November 27, 2024

UAMS, Madison County Health Coalition Discuss Ways to Improve Care for Expectant Mothers in Huntsville

David Wise

Sarah Moore, associate director of the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation, speaks to a group about prenatal care.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Institute for Community Health Innovation joined a recent meeting of the Madison County Health Coalition to discuss ways the institute is improving care for expectant mothers in and around Huntsville.


November 26, 2024

UAMS to Expand Healthy Start Program in South Arkansas

David Wise

Marshallese mother reading to her baby

FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will expand its Healthy Start program to Ashley, Ouachita and Union counties this fall, providing essential prenatal care services to women and families in south Arkansas. Since 2019, the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation has offered the Healthy Start program — funded by the…


November 25, 2024

UAMS Study Finds More Doulas Needed in Arkansas

David Wise

Doula speaking to a pregnant woman outside the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation

FAYETTEVILLE — Community-based doulas can help mothers better navigate the health care system and provide cultural support, but there are not enough doulas in Arkansas to serve communities, according to researchers from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). Doulas are trained birth coaches who provide continuous emotional support, advocate for and aid informed…


November 14, 2024

UAMS Expands Group Prenatal Care to Phillips County

David Wise

Women in a circle during a CenteringPregnancy meeting

LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and the Boys, Girls, Adults Community Development Center are partnering to offer group prenatal care to pregnant women in Phillips County. CenteringPregnancy® is facilitated by the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation and is a group prenatal care program that includes a pregnant woman’s…


October 30, 2024

UAMS Partners with Local Nonprofit to Provide Safe Space for Breastfeeding Mothers

David Wise

Photo of the lactation space at Center for Nonprofits at St. Mary’s

In collaboration with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Institute for Community Health Innovation, the Center for Nonprofits at St. Mary’s in Rogers recently installed a lactation space for nursing mothers to comfortably breastfeed or express breastmilk. According to the National Institutes of Health, many Hispanic women living in the U.S. may feel…


October 28, 2024

NIH Director Visits UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation

David Wise

Monica Bertagnolli, M.D., director of the National Institutes of Health, speaks at the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation, while U.S. Sen. John Boozman looks on.

Monica Bertagnolli, M.D., director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), joined U.S. Sen. John Boozman and Rep. Steve Womack at the UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation on Tuesday to hear about the institute’s work with community partners to reduce health disparities and improve health care access among underserved communities in Arkansas. The meeting…


October 11, 2024

New UAMS Initiative Trains Community Health Workers to Provide Diabetes Support in Rural Pharmacies

David Wise

Tina Hedrick from AFMC leads CHWs in an exercise on anatomy as part of the DEEP training program.

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Institute for Community Health Innovation launched a statewide initiative to train community health workers (CHWs) to provide diabetes support using the Diabetes Empowerment Education Program (DEEP) curriculum. This training, which is part of a larger statewide initiative to empower local communities to improve diabetes management and outcomes,…


October 9, 2024

UAMS Deploys Mobile Health Unit to South Arkansas

David Wise

Photo of a UAMS mobile health unit

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.



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