Simmons Bank presented $25,000 to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to help fund the coming UAMS regional campus at El Dorado. The presentation was made Wednesday, according to a news release.
The campus represents a joint effort by the Medical Center of South Arkansas and UAMS to increase medical access throughout south Arkansas by training primary care physicians to serve Union County.
"The arrival of the UAMS regional campus in El Dorado will represent a very special moment for our community, bringing benefits that range from enhanced medical services and education to boosted economic opportunity," said Rob Robinson, Simmons Bank's El Dorado community president. "We at Simmons feel honored to support a program that will positively impact so many individuals and families."
The UAMS regional campus at El Dorado hopes to open its clinic in January 2022 and begin training medical college graduates to become family medicine residents by July 2023.
"I am very thankful to Simmons Bank for this investment to improve health care in El Dorado," said UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson. "Community partnerships like these are essential to increasing access to health care across the state. We are looking forward to establishing a new regional campus in El Dorado."
Simmons' donation at El Dorado follows its $1 million gift to support the Jefferson County Health Unit and the Veteran's Services Office earlier this month and a $1 million gift to Arkansas Children's in May to support construction of a new pediatric clinic at Pine Bluff.