"We couldn’t be hitched to a better organization than UAMS," Carmie Henry, vice president for legislative affairs for the cooperatives, said. 

The network pledged the funds for community education and screening in rural areas where Arkansans are less likely to receive early detection and treatment for cancer.

The Arkansas Cancer Research Center (ACRC) will lead the project. James Y. Suen, M.D., director of the center, praised electric cooperatives and said their gift would help rural Arkansans get earlier diagnosis and treatment. The goal of the five-year program is to reduce cancer incidence and mortality in rural areas of Arkansas.

Some predominantly rural counties in Arkansas have cancer rates significantly above the national average, according to Dr. Suen. In Garland County, for example, 175 women per 100,000 develop breast cancer, although the national rate is 114 cases per 100,000 in population. In Jefferson County, 172 men get prostate cancer per 100,000 in population, while the national rate is 142 in 100,000.

Dr. Suen thanked Sen. Pryor for suggesting the partnership to leaders of the cooperatives, calling Sen. Pryor "a friend of all Arkansans."

Alton Higginbotham, president of First Electric Cooperative in Jacksonville, noted that the local coop previously made a gift to ACRC in memory of Jim Cox, who was with the coop 1956-1986 and was manager at the time of his death in 1986. Mr. Cox’s widow, Ouida Cox, who edits the cooperatives’ popular magazine, Rural Arkansas, attended the ceremony today.

"We have worked closely with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences during the past few years to assist in developing a stronger network of rural health-care providers," said Gary Voigt, president and chief executive officer of Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc. (AECI), a Little Rock-based cooperative providing services to electric cooperatives statewide, and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. (AECC), a generation and transmission cooperative. "Our efforts have included the Rural Hospital Program. The Community Cancer Control Program is an extension of our commitment to helping to improve the quality of life for rural Arkansans."

In addition to providing the grant, the cooperatives will work with UAMS to establish the program by allowing UAMS staff to use the cooperatives’ offices to conduct cancer screening procedures. The cooperatives will also help promote the program through various means, including advertising and Rural Arkansas magazine, a statewide publication for cooperative members.

The program will begin as a pilot project at two of the state’s 17 electric distribution cooperatives -- First Electric Cooperative and at Forrest City-based Woodruff Electric Cooperative – and is expected to expand to cooperative service areas statewide.

Dr. Suen noted before the ceremony today that cancer places an enormous economic and social burden on Arkansans each year. Many cancers can be prevented simply through lifestyle changes and even others can be successfully treated if detected early, he said.

"Despite major advances in research and treatment for patients like those being made at the Arkansas Cancer Research Center, cancer continues to be a devastating threat to the health of Americans," Dr. Suen said. "An estimated 14,200 new cases of cancer will occur in Arkansas during 2002 and more than 6,200 Arkansans will die of cancer this year.

"Controlling cancer must be a priority for all Arkansans, and UAMS is very grateful to the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas for stepping forward to work with us in this effort. Their generous gift and their partnership will make a difference in the lives of many Arkansans," Dr. Suen said. "The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas are in a unique position to help us promote and sustain activities that will improve the health of local communities."

UAMS provides clinical care to patients and is the only comprehensive teaching facility in the state for students pursuing medical and other health-care degree programs. Academic centers include the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Related Professions, Public Health and the Graduate School. UAMS is a major referral center for seriously ill patients throughout Arkansas and the United States. Centers of excellence include cancer treatment, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, neurosurgery, pediatrics, and geriatrics.

The outreach efforts of the university extend to the borders of the state through the Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program with six teaching and clinical facilities. Through education, research, clinical care programs, and community service statewide, UAMS fulfills its unique role as the foundation of the health-care system in Arkansas.

The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas comprise 17 electric distribution cooperatives; Arkansas Electric Cooperatives Inc. (AECI), a Little Rock-based cooperative that provides various services to the distribution cooperatives; and Arkansas Electric Cooperative Corp. (AECC), a generation and transmission cooperative. The distribution cooperatives provide electricity to more than 420,000 members, or customers, in Arkansas and surrounding states. In addition, the distribution cooperatives own AECI, which was incorporated in 1942 and had operating revenues of nearly $150 million in 2001. Little Rock-based AECC, formed in 1949, is owned by 16 of the distribution cooperatives and provides wholesale electricity to them. AECC had total assets in 2001 of $910 million and operating revenues of $499 million. AECC is listed as Arkansas’s 11^th largest private company by Arkansas Business magazine.