EL DORADO -- The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has received a $500,000 gift to create a regional campus in El Dorado. The donor asked to remain anonymous, according to a news release from the medical school, which has its main campus in Little Rock.
"We are grateful for this transformative investment in the future of health care for El Dorado and our state," said UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson. "We are increasing our presence in the community through expansion of our regional campuses, and El Dorado is the first step in increasing access to UAMS-quality care."
UAMS has eight regional campuses -- in Batesville, Fayetteville, Fort Smith, Helena-West Helena, Jonesboro, Magnolia, Pine Bluff and Texarkana.
This gift establishes the Dr. David M. Yocum III El Dorado Regional Program Fund for Excellence, which is dedicated to building a regional campus in El Dorado.
Yocum, one of the first thoracic surgeons in Arkansas and an El Dorado native, died in 2012. He was a 1946 graduate of UAMS College of Medicine. Yocum was an assistant clinical professor of surgery at UAMS, was on the teaching staff of what is now the UAMS South Regional Campus and served as a foundation board member for the College of Medicine. Beginning in 1951, he practiced general and thoracic surgery in El Dorado for several decades.
"We are overwhelmed by this donor's generosity to establish a fund in honor of Dr. Yocum to bring a regional campus to El Dorado," said Amy Wenger, vice chancellor for regional campuses.