Latest news with #CamPatterson
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
UAMS chancellor stepping down after 7 years, returning to faculty
UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson announces a new $31.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health on July 10, 2024. (Mary Hennigan/Arkansas Advocate) The leader of Arkansas' largest healthcare system will step down after seven years for personal and medical reasons, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences announced Tuesday in a news release. Dr. Cam Patterson became the university's chancellor in June 2018. By giving up his position as chancellor and as UAMS Health CEO, he will return to being a faculty member in the university's cardiology department. Patterson 'is facing medical and personal issues that require more attention than he can give them while serving in the chancellor's position,' according to UAMS' news release. 'The work our team has done at UAMS over the last seven-plus years has been the high point of my career,' Patterson said in the release. 'We have a lot to be proud of and I've been the luckiest guy to be a part of it. I am excited about the opportunity to return to the faculty and engage more deeply in the academic and clinical missions at our institution.' UAMS System President Jay Silveria praised Patterson's leadership tenure in the release. 'Leading UAMS is a demanding task, and I appreciate Dr. Patterson's need to do what he feels is best for himself and his family and for the long-term success of the university,' Silveria said. 'His contributions to UAMS came through unusually restrictive times, and he should be celebrated for his efforts to push the institution forward while navigating a challenging environment.' Patterson 'oversaw both challenges and improvement in the university's economic outlook, despite the myriad issues presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and other unforeseen variables,' the release states. One such challenge was a conflict between state and federal mandates regarding COVID-19 vaccinations. The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a mandate in November 2021 for health workers to be fully vaccinated or receive exemptions, with noncompliant facilities at risk of losing federal funding. The rule directly conflicted with a 2021 Arkansas law that said COVID-19 vaccination 'shall not be a condition of education, employment, entry, or services from the state or a state agency or entity' unless lawmakers approved an exception. Patterson sought an exemption and defended this decision before a legislative committee. Silveria will name an interim UAMS chancellor 'in the coming weeks' and start a national search for Patterson's permanent successor, the news release states. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
UAMS Chancellor Dr. Cam Patterson to step down after 7 years
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Chancellor Dr. Cam Patterson announced Tuesday that he will be stepping down from the position after 7 years. In a release from UAMS, Patterson said he is facing medical and personal issues that require more attention than he can give while serving in the chancellor's position. He will return to a faculty position in cardiology. UAMS launches pilot program for statewide initiative to support mothers, infants after childbirth Patterson began serving as chancellor June 1, 2018. 'The work our team has done at UAMS over the last seven-plus years has been the high point of my career,' Patterson said. 'We have a lot to be proud of and I've been the luckiest guy to be a part of it. I am excited about the opportunity to return to the faculty and engage more deeply in the academic and clinical missions at our institution.' Before taking the position, Patterson has served at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and Komansky Children's Hospital in New York. While at UAMS, he has received more than $60 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Heart Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. UAMS awarded more than $31 million in grant funding by National Institutes of Health for translational research He has also received numerous accolades including, being named Influencer of the Year and receiving the Arnall Patz Lifetime Achievement Award. Patterson earned his bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt University. He went on to earn his medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine and his Master of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina. University of Arkansas System President Jay B. Silveria will name an interim chancellor ahead of the national search for the next chancellor. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
UAMS will add 22 new residency slots in South Arkansas with $2.5M of state funds
The Medical Center of South Arkansas in El Dorado will become a UAMS regional campus called South Arkansas Regional Hospital. (Courtesy photo) New residency slots at two South Arkansas hospitals will provide needed medical training and services in that part of the state, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences said last week. The state's primary medical school is adding 22 family medicine residency slots because of $2.5 million allocated by the Legislature in February, UAMS announced in a news release. UAMS will use the money as 'start-up funds' for the first three years of the residency programs in Crossett and El Dorado, which includes an obstetrics fellowship, Chancellor Dr. Cam Patterson wrote in the university's funding request to the Joint Budget Committee's PEER Review subcommittee. The panel approved the request Feb. 26 with no discussion or dissent, and the full committee approved it the following day. The number of students graduating from Arkansas medical schools has outpaced the state's number of residencies in recent years, but Arkansas leaders in medical education have been working to add more slots at hospitals throughout the state. Most physicians practice in the same state where they complete their residencies, and UAMS sponsors roughly 85% of residencies statewide, said Dr. Molly Gathright, executive associate dean for Graduate Medical Education in UAMS' College of Medicine. Arkansas leaders work to close gap between medical school graduates and in-state residencies The health system announced in May 2023 that it would train residents at the South Arkansas Regional Hospital in El Dorado in partnership with a local nonprofit. Last week's news release said UAMS plans to obtain accreditation for the El Dorado facility this year and enroll its first residents in the summer of 2026. The Crossett facility enrolled its first residents last year. 'Expanding training opportunities in this region helps address health care needs and strengthens the local workforce,' Gathright said in a statement to the Advocate. 'At the same time, every residency program plays a vital role in improving access to care across the state, and our goal is to support a broad distribution of training opportunities to meet diverse community needs.' In addition to its main Little Rock campus and the Crossett campus, UAMS trains residents at six other regional campuses throughout the state: Batesville, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Jonesboro, Pine Bluff and Texarkana. A seventh residency program in Magnolia closed in 2022. Adding medical residencies to a community boosts the local economy, according to a study released this month by Heartland Forward. The Bentonville-based research organization estimates that gradually adding 275 new medical residents over six years — about 46 per year — would create an additional $465 million in economic activity for Arkansas. Republican U.S. Sen. John Boozman, an optometrist from Rogers, sponsored multiple bipartisan bills during the last session of Congress to create more residency slots nationwide and retain the doctors that train in those positions, particularly in rural areas. The legislation stalled in committee. UAMS' Fayetteville and Crossett locations specifically train family medicine specialists to practice in rural areas. Some of Arkansas' rural counties do not have hospitals, according to the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Residents who train in El Dorado and Crossett will be 'immersed in south Arkansas-based rural clinical settings,' though they will complete some of their training in Little Rock at both UAMS and Arkansas Children's Hospital, according to the health system's announcement last week. 'The current structure of our UAMS sponsored rural training programs — one year in an urban hospital followed by two years at a rural training site — ensures residents gain broad clinical experience while becoming fully immersed in rural practice,' Gathright said. 'The hope is that this model increases the likelihood that they will stay and provide care in these communities, improving access for low-income patients and those who must travel long distances for medical services.' Ashley County, where Crossett is the largest city, had fewer than five full-time primary care physicians per 10,000 people as of 2021, a slight decrease from 2020, according to data from the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement. Additionally, Arkansas has a shortage of maternal health care providers, particularly in rural areas. Gathright said the obstetrics fellowship funded by the $2.5 million grant will be 'crucial to improving access to care' in rural South Arkansas. The fellowship will open July 1 in El Dorado. The Bradley County Medical Center closed its labor and delivery unit within the past 18 months due to staffing struggles. Bradley County borders both Ashley County and Union County, where El Dorado is the county seat.
