SEPT. 6, 2005 | The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has established a disaster relief fund, sent physicians to several Arkansas camps, mobilized its seven Area Health Education Centers across the state and collected food and clothing to provide aid to Hurricane Katrina evacuees pouring into Arkansas and UAMS.

UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D., announced Sept. 2 the establishment of the UAMS Disaster Relief Fund with a $9,000 donation from the UAMS Foundation -- $1 on behalf of each of UAMS’ almost 9,000 employees. He invited UAMS employees to contribute to the fund, and they did – to the tune of $1,000 within the first half hour. More than $7,000 has been collected so far.

The fund will be administered by UAMS’ Social Work Department and used to buy prescription drugs, over-the-counter medications, food, diapers, baby formula, transportation to and from shelters and other essentials needed by families displaced by the hurricane.

"UAMS employees are among the most caring people anywhere in the world," Wilson said. "They demonstrate that every day in our clinics, our classrooms, our research labs and our offices as they work to make our state a better place for the people of Arkansas.

Wilson said UAMS will provide medical assistance to the evacuees, but that employee contributions are important because as a state institution, UAMS’ funds are limited.

Wilson said UAMS is seeing a growing number of patients from the Gulf region in the outpatient center, emergency room, and the Arkansas Cancer Research Center who are in need of medications and medical care. Evacuees also are receiving help from the UAMS AHECs in Pine Bluff, El Dorado, Texarkana, Helena, Fort Smith, Jonesboro and Fayetteville.

In the week after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast near New Orleans on Aug. 29, UAMS has responded in a number of ways:

- Teams of UAMS physicians – including pediatricians, psychiatrists and internal or family medicine specialists – traveled to evacuee shelters in Hot Springs, Heber Springs and Redfield during the weekend. There also were UAMS physicians at Little Rock National Airport to greet and assist with the triage of arriving evacuees.
 
- UAMS treated more than 50 patients from the hurricane-impacted region during the past several days. Patient needs have ranged from prescription medications to cancer treatments and high-risk pregnancies. UAMS physicians also have assisted the staff at the Veterans Hospital in Little Rock, treating about 20 patients that arrived there during the weekend.
 
- The UAMS Department of Psychiatry operated a clinic for any affected by the hurricane during the weekend and were making its staff available as needed for any who may be distressed, depressed or in need of help following the storm. 
 
- UAMS enrolled some students in the federal Head Start pre-school program operated by UAMS.