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Governor Signs Funding for Cancer Center Expansion into Law
Gov. Mike Beebe today signed into law a plan to provide up to $50 million in matching funds to build a major expansion of the Arkansas Cancer Research Center (ACRC) at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) as well as support patient care and research programs.
Act 838 will provide matching funds to build and support a 288,000-square-foot expansion to the ACRC. The new law created a $36 million fund to provide a dollar-for-dollar match of private donations in support of the cancer center expansion and program endowments. When that commitment is met, UAMS can ask for $10 million in additional matching funds to be appropriated through the Governor’s discretionary funds in the state’s General Improvement Fund. UAMS can then allocate $4 million in funds from other projects as matching funds for the ACRC.
Lead sponsors of the legislation were Sens. Paul Bookout of Jonesboro and Bob Johnson of Bigelow and Rep. Eddie Cooper of Melbourne. The remaining 132 members of the Legislature, led by Senate President Pro Temp Jack Critcher of Batesville and House Speaker Benny Petrus of Stuttgart, were co-sponsors of Act 838.
“This matching fund – together with gifts from donors – could provide as much as $100 million toward plans for a much-needed expansion to our cancer center,” said UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D. “We appreciate the support of Gov. Beebe, our state legislators and supporters who have made possible a facility that will provide care for patients for many years to come as well as a home for researchers seeking new cancer treatments.”
Construction of the ACRC expansion is expected to start this year.
The expansion will not only add clinic and laboratory space, it will allow the expansion of research and treatment programs at the facility, which opened in 1989. ACRC clinics reported more than 113,000 patient visits during the last fiscal year.
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| Peter O. Kohler, M.D, is UAMS vice chancellor for the Northwest Arkansas Region and will lead efforts to open a UAMS campus in northwest Arkansas. |
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UAMS Names Kohler Vice Chancellor For Northwest Arkansas Region
With 34 years of administrative experience in academic health care, Peter O. Kohler, M.D, has been named by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences as vice chancellor for the Northwest Arkansas Region and will lead efforts to open a UAMS campus in northwest Arkansas.
Kohler, who retired in 2006 after serving 18 years as president of the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland, has been named vice chancellor for the Northwest Arkansas Region of UAMS. His career includes nine years, from 1977-1986, when he served as chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at UAMS. He served as interim dean for the UAMS College of Medicine in 1985-1986.
UAMS is in planning stages for a satellite campus in Fayetteville that would include the UAMS colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health Related Professions. Kohler will lead the planning in northwest Arkansas, working with community leaders, hospital administrators and local health care providers.
“It’s wonderful to have someone of Dr. Kohler’s experience and stature guiding us in creating a branch campus in northwest Arkansas,” said UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D., who succeeded Kohler as College of Medicine dean before being named chancellor. “Dr. Kohler brings a passion for academic medicine and a long track record of success.”
At his retirement, Kohler was one of the longest serving presidents at an academic medical center in the United States. Among OSHU accomplishments during his tenure was an expansion of rural health care in the state through Oregon’s Area Health Education Centers as well as significant growth in research funding and annual patient visits to OSHU.
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