Friends of UAMS Adds New Chapter in Mountain Home
| April 7, 2017 | Undeterred by blustery weather, business and community leaders from across Mountain Home packed the home of Sara and Lang Zimmerman on April 5 to kick off the inaugural Friends of UAMS – North Central.
The Zimmermans’ home, along with many others, is nestled near Big Creek Golf & Country Club, which they co-own. Sara and Lang Zimmerman are president and vice president, respectively, of Yelcot, a family-owned communications company based in Mountain Home. They also own several car dealerships and are active in economic development. Their daughter, Sloane Zimmerman, is a third-year UAMS College of Medicine student.
ASU – Mountain Home Chancellor Robin Myers, Ed.D. (center), talks shop with (from left) Ron Peterson and state Sen. Scott Flippo.
Attending were state Sen. Scott Flippo and state Rep. Nelda Speaks, as well as Yellville Mayor Shawn Lane. Representing Baxter Regional Medical Center were Ron Peterson, president and CEO; David Fox, COO; Debbie Henry, CFO; Ted Sanders, Clark Fletcher and Daniel Goodwin, M.D., board members; and Nicole Vaccarella, general counsel. Also attending were Barney Larry, executive director of the Baxter Regional Hospital Foundation; Arkansas State University – Mountain Home Chancellor Robin Myers, Ed.D.; and Joe Miles, CEO of Integrity First Bank.
Lang Zimmerman welcomed guests, particularly those who made the trek from Little Rock. He thanked Baxter Regional Medical Center for its support and Flippo and Speaks for their service in the recent legislative session.
“UAMS has faced, just like our local hospital, the uncertainty of what’s been happening with the private option, now called Arkansas Works,” Zimmerman said. “It’s made a big difference to Baxter Regional – it’s meant about $4.2 million a year for our little hospital here.”
UAMS receives $65 million a year through the Medicaid expansion of Arkansas Works.
Zimmerman then introduced UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn, M.D. Rahn thanked the Zimmermans for opening their home and recognized Beau Blair, executive vice chair of the UAMS Foundation Fund Board; Lance Burchett, vice chancellor for Institutional Advancement; Tim Hill, vice chancellor for Regional Campuses; and Christina Clark, the chancellor’s chief of staff, for their attendance and support.
UAMS is often seen as a Little Rock asset, but it’s really a statewide institution, Rahn said, citing the significant impact of its graduates and patient care on the health and economy of the state.
Jeanne Peterson (at left) and Sara Zimmerman caught up as the evening wound down.
“From a workforce perspective, what happens at UAMS has a profound impact on the health professions in the state of Arkansas,” Rahn said. “We had 985 graduates last year from 73 different programs – the vast majority of whom go into careers in Arkansas.”
Rahn mentioned partnerships with various organizations across Arkansas, and expressed hope in partnering in the future with Baxter Regional Medical Center in residency training.
UAMS Medical Center generally runs at 100 percent occupancy, Rahn said. “Most mornings during the week, there are people awaiting admission, awaiting a bed, a critical care unit, or a floor bed in the ED,” he said. Last year, UAMS admitted 2,800 patients who were transferred from other hospitals.
“As a university, we’re in the knowledge business, and as a health system, we’re in the patient care business,” Rahn said, emphasizing a need for more state appropriations to help support the institution’s annual $1.5 billion budget.
“Our appropriation from the state is $107 million – that’s a big number,” Rahn said. “But in 2009, it was $107 million, and the budget for 2018 and 2019 is also $107 million.”
As the price of health care continues to rise, those state appropriations make less of an impact, Rahn said. He estimated that in the last 10 years, the purchasing power of those state appropriations had declined 30 percent.
“We have to fill that with something,” Rahn said.
Rahn noted that state appropriations and tuition, added together, comprise only 10 percent of UAMS’ budget. Patient care revenue makes up the lion’s share, or 75 percent of the budget, with significant support from Arkansas Works. Any reduction in the number of insured patients would have far-ranging effects on UAMS, he said.
Tim Paden, M.D. (at left) and David Fox. Fox was named COO of Baxter Regional Medical Center in March.
“Even a 1 percent increase in our uninsured rate for our health system at UAMS would be a $10 million impact, and we can’t do it,” Rahn said. “I think Arkansas Works, works. The national model should adopt, in my opinion, a lot of the features of what we’ve done in Arkansas.”
Rahn encouraged the state to work toward a long-term strategy for investment in UAMS.
“We need traction around the idea of long-term investments and important assets, rather than just what this year’s expenditures are going to be,” Rahn said. “It’s time for the state to engage in a dialogue of what it wants its academic medical center to be.”
“I thank the General Assembly for giving us increased flexibility for patient care, but we’re going to need some additional resources going forward,” Rahn said.
Any additional resources would go a long way towards creating a College of Dental Medicine, which UAMS recently made a priority.
The need for a College of Dental Medicine is great, Rahn said, because Arkansas has the fewest number of dentists per capita in the country, and that the majority of the state’s dentists are over age 50. Arkansas could also retain students it loses to neighboring states with dental schools, he said.
“The burden of oral health is substantial,” Rahn said.
Burchett thanked guests for their support, and their friendship with and advocacy for UAMS.
The event marked the 11th chapter for Friends of UAMS. Other Friends of UAMS chapters are established in Texarkana, Jonesboro, Monticello, Batesville, Pine Bluff, Helena-West Helena, Hot Springs, Fort Smith, Magnolia and northwest Arkansas.
For more photos from the event, visit the UAMS Flickr page.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.###