UAMS 12th Street Health & Wellness Center to Provide Health Screenings Dec. 1 in Observance of World AIDS Day

By Ben Boulden

The center will provide free HIV testing. The testing will be available without needles using a mouth swab. People also are invited to receive free health checks for blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose as well as general physical examinations.

Test results will be available at the event, too, and the first 30 patients to stay for their results will receive a $5 gift card.

An ARcare outreach representative will be on hand for the event. ARcare is a private, nonprofit organization that provides affordable care to meet the primary medical and dental care needs of the residents of several rural, Arkansas counties.

“All of the students, faculty and volunteers want to build on the great success we had last year with the center’s observance of World AIDS Day and again bring HIV testing to our patients while also raising public awareness of HIV and AIDS,” said Lanita White, Pharm.D., director of the UAMS 12th Street Health and Wellness Center. “According to the Arkansas Department of Health, more than 5,000 Arkansans are living with HIV/AIDS but almost half of those individuals actually are in care. This event gives us a chance to reach out to this underserved community.”

Adult-supervised activities for children also are slated for the event, and food will be served. For more information, visit www.Healthon12th.uams.edu or call the UAMS 12th Street Health and Wellness Center at (501) 614-2492.

The 12th Street Health & Wellness Center is a free clinic run by students under supervision of faculty and other licensed volunteers. It provides students from the UAMS Colleges of Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health and the Graduate School an avenue to learn about, from and with each other in an interprofessional center. The center focuses on education, prevention and management of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. It also provides information about healthy living, preventive care, consultations and screenings for residents of the Little Rock Promise Neighborhood and surrounding areas.

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a northwest Arkansas regional campus; a statewide network of regional centers; and seven institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging and the Translational Research Institute. It is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,021 students, 789 medical residents and two dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 10,000 employees, including about 1,000 physicians and other professionals who provide care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS regional centers throughout the state. Visit www.uams.edu or www.uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Instagram.