AR HR1084

House of Representatives celebrates the 50th anniversary of UAMS Regional Campuses, which evolved from Area Health Education Centers (AHECs) first conceptualized in the early 1970s to address physician shortages in rural communities

In 1973, the General Assembly authorized and appropriated $1,000,000 to establish Arkansas AHECs with six original centers located in El Dorado, Pine Bluff, Fort Smith, Fayetteville, Jonesboro, and Texarkana, with all centers open by 1976

Over five decades, UAMS Regional Campuses trained nearly 1,500 family medicine physicians with 63% remaining in Arkansas to practice and 37% in rural counties; currently approximately 700 graduates practice in 69 of 75 state counties

In 2007, the General Assembly appropriated $3,100,000 to establish a satellite UAMS campus in Northwest Arkansas that enrolled approximately 300 students in medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and health professions with a large family medicine residency program

House honors the health and economic impact UAMS Regional Campuses have had at local, regional, and statewide levels and looks forward to continued success in providing training and comprehensive primary care services to Arkansans