LITTLE ROCK – The Care Foundation Inc. of Springdale today donated $500,000 as a challenge gift to help fund development of the northwest satellite campus of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS).

The money will be used to encourage matching gifts of between $5,000 and $50,000, said Walter Turnbow, Care Foundation board member, at a news conference at the former Washington Regional Medical Center, which will house the new campus.

“The shortage of health care professionals is one of the most significant challenges Arkansas and the nation faces,” Turnbow said. “As our board looked at how to best support northwest Arkansas and address that shortage, we became confident that increasing the capacity of our health education pipeline through the UAMS-Northwest campus was the most strategic thing we could do.”

The satellite campus located in Fayetteville will open for the fall 2009 semester and is intended to address growing health care work force shortages by allowing UAMS to further increase its enrollment. The campus will include the UAMS colleges of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health Related Professions.

“We are grateful for this gift and the faith that the Care Foundation has put in us as we work to help provide all Arkansans better access to health care,” said UAMS Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson, M.D.

The Care Foundation promotes healthy communities through making strategic grants.

“The UAMS-Northwest campus is one of the most significant and exciting opportunities northwest Arkansas has seen in a long time,” Turnbow said. “The project will impact the health of our community is a very positive way, and is also an important economic stimulus.”

The satellite campus will provide facilities for students, resident physicians, faculty and patients. It will have 250 to 300 students along with resident physicians when full enrollment is reached.

Peter O. Kohler, M.D., vice chancellor for the Northwest Arkansas Region, is leading the satellite campus effort, working with community leaders, hospital administrators and local health care providers.

“This new campus will benefit Northwest Arkansas and the entire state as UAMS trains more physicians and other health care workers to meet the needs of patients,” Kohler said.

Larry Wright, grants committee co-chair, said Care Foundation considers the $500,000 grant to be a smart investment for northwest Arkansas. “We know that there is still a significant amount of money that needs to be raised, and we hope that our challenge gift encourages others to support the project generously,” he said.

Care Foundation Inc., a supporting organization to the Northwest Arkansas Community Foundation, was established through the sale of Northwest Health System in 1998. Through a request for proposal process, Care Foundation makes strategic grants awards to 501(c)(3) community organizations in the areas of education, health, immigration and capacity building. For more information about Care Foundation and its strategic grant making initiatives, visit their website at www.carefdn.org.

UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic health center, with five colleges, a graduate school, a medical center, six centers of excellence and a statewide network of regional centers. UAMS has 2,538 students and 733 medical residents. Its centers of excellence include the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, the Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy, the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, the Psychiatric Research Institute and the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging. It is one of the state’s largest public employers with about 9,600 employees, including nearly 1,150 physicians who provide medical care to patients at UAMS, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, the VA Medical Center and UAMS’ Area Health Education Centers throughout the state. UAMS and its affiliates have an economic impact in Arkansas of $5 billion a year. Visit www.uams.edu.