DEC. 14, 2001 | Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D., of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) praised Springdale philanthropist Lawrence H. Schmieding this week for his vision and generosity in creating a center for geriatric care and health care education.

Chancellor Wilson called on Mr. Schmieding this week to thank him for his gift of $13.5 million to build the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education at Springdale.

”The Schieding Center and the other six geriatric centers will help enable our senior population to remain independent, healthy, and at home, and will provide their caregivers extraordinary resources heretofore unavailable in their home communities,” Chancellor Wilson said.

The center is a regional satellite of the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging at UAMS. Operating in temporary quarters for the last year, it will move to a new facility in the spring of 2002. The center will offer patient care as well as paraprofessional training for home health caregivers. The center will be a partner of the Northwest Arkansas Area Health Education Center, part of the UAMS network of rural programs, and Northwest Health System in Springdale. Larry D. Wright, M.D., FACP, is director of the center and assistant professor in the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatrics at the UAMS College of Medicine. Beth Vaughan-Wrobel, Ed.D., FAAN, R.N., is associate director of the new center.

The Schmieding Center was the first satellite of the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging to open. The second, the South Arkansas Center on Aging in El Dorado, opened this fall.

Mr. Schmieding said when he made the contribution in 1999 that he envisioned a center that would “improve the quality of life for older adults. Educating more people as home caregivers is important for keeping seniors happy and in their homes.”

Mr. Schmieding made the gift through the Schmieding Foundation. He has also supported the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Salem Lutheran Church in Springdale, the Harvey and Bernice Jones Center for Families in Springdale, Helen Tyson Middle School, Schmieding Developmental Center, and Schmieding Children's Center/Kids First. David A. Lipschitz, M.D., Ph.D., and Claudia J. Beverly, R.N., Ph.D., director and co-director of the Reynolds Center at UAMS, have observed that “Mr. Schmieding’s philanthropy is exceptional, both in the generosity of his gifts and in the diversity of his support. He chooses carefully the programs he supports and defines his interests as bettering the lives of the youngest and the oldest, those who are least able to take care of themselves.”

Beth Vaughan-Wrobel, Ed.D., FAAN, R.N., UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D., and Lawrence H. Schmieding discussed plans for a new center of geriatric care and education.

Mr. Schmieding greeted Chancellor Wilson at his business, H.C. Schmieding Produce Co.

Chancellor Wilson at the site for the Schmieding Center for Senior Health and Education at Springdale.

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