Rahn Talks Health Care, Campus Resources with Students

By David Robinson

 UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn speaks Feb. 28 at a forum hosted by the UAMS Associated Student Government.

March 1, 2011 | Amid changes and challenges in health care, Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D., told students, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) will look to technology, growing enrollment and its resources to respond.

Speaking recently to about 100 students, faculty members and others watching off campus via interactive video, Rahn talked about the current health care environment and the future of UAMS during a forum hosted by the UAMS Associated Student Government. He also answered student questions about the prospect of a student union and using energy efficiency to pay for continued infrastructure improvements.

“You are embarking on careers during an interesting time,” Rahn said, outlining the demographics in a state and nation whose population is aging, living longer and needing more health care.

The total of 35 million Americans aged 65 or older is expected to grow to 72 million by 2030, he said. The current health system is not equipped to handle the growing numbers of the elderly as well as an increasing number of the uninsured.

“Regardless of what happens with health care reform, we will still wrestle with these problems,” Rahn said.

As for academic medicine, the chancellor said UAMS will look to match its curriculum for equipping graduates with the tools to be successful in the changing health care environment. In part, he said, that could involve interprofessional education.

“There are a lot of things that all students need to know regardless of their profession,” he said, citing health care information technology and interdisciplinary teamwork as examples. “We need to identify those core resources and implement them in our curricula.”

Rahn pointed to the growing regional campus, UAMS Northwest in Fayetteville that now has 95 students. As renovations continue to add more classroom space and better technology infrastructure for distance education, enrollment is expected to top 125 this fall toward an ultimate goal of about 250, he said.

The chancellor said he also expects to see overall UAMS enrollment continue to expand.

One component of UAMS growth and success in its mission to improve health in Arkansas, Rahn said, is the stimulus-funded broadband grant announced in 2010. The $102 million federal grant – one of the largest ever received by an Arkansas institution will establish or upgrade broadband connections at 474 health care and education sites across Arkansas to enable medical specialists to provide care to rural areas using two-way interactive video. The network could expansion to 3,926 additional community institutions – public schools, long-term care facilities, clinics, public libraries and others.

“This broadband network will support education in those communities and remove barriers to higher education,” he said.

Rahn was asked about the prospect of a new student union to replace the one imploded in 2007 to make room for a hospital expansion.

The chancellor said there are plans for a replacement student union but the project lacks funding. Comparing the situation to the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, which recently completed an overhaul and expansion of its union, Rahn noted that campus has between 15,000 and 20,000 students versus about 2,800 at UAMS. The Fayetteville campus also instituted a facilities fee on student tuition toward the union project, he said.

“We just completed a successful five-year capital campaign and are planning for the next campaign,” he said. “A union and a daycare are among the projects in the mix to be considered for funding in the next campaign.”

The West Central Energy Plant that opened in 2007, which provides utility service for a portion of the campus, includes a number of energy efficient and environmentally friendly technologies, Rahn said. The plant allowed the campus to add more than 1 million square feet in new construction while saving an estimated $3.7 million on utility costs that would have occurred without the new measures.

That savings is helping fund the completion of an additional patient floor in the hospital and other projects. It is also an element in an effort to make the campus more energy efficient, he said.

An Office of Sustainability has been created, he said, and is seeking to expand recycling services on campus among other efforts to be more energy efficient.