UAMS’ Gary Miller of Texarkana Receives Social Justice Award

By todd

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LITTLE ROCK – Gary Miller, director of Community Outreach and Education at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Area Health Education Center-Southwest in Texarkana, received the Andy Nichols Award for Social Justice on July 1 at the National AHEC Organization conference in Denver.


 


The award is given to an individual, project or organization in the AHEC network that exemplifies Andy Nichols’ vision and persistent service in pursuit of social justice. Nichols established and directed Arizona’s statewide system of Area Health Education Centers (AHEC). He was also a driving force in the National AHEC Organization, and a national advocate for the programs.


 


Miller was selected for the award based on his commitment to the medically and socially undeserved population in the Texarkana community. His efforts have led to programs addressing the needs of the Hispanic residents and African-American women and children in our service communities in Arkansas and Texas. Under Miller’s leadership, the UAMS AHEC-SW has provided community health workers, a Saturday clinic, after-school program and medical interpreters for the Hispanic communities in Howard and Sevier Counties.


 


Sonia Bunyard, R.N., AHEC-SW health nurse educator for Sevier County, said Miller is “the best. He works hard on our after-school program and often comes and visits with our kids. He also helps at our minority clinic and is always eager to participate in health fairs, school programs and any other community programs that we are asked to be part of. He is truly 100 percent dedicated and committed to helping people.”


 


UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,538 students and 733 medical residents. Its centers of excellence include the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is one of the state’s largest public employers with about 9,600 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $5 billion a year. Visit www.uams.edu.