Friday, May 9, 2025
5/9/2025
Community Project Funding/Congressionally Directed Spending - Construction - The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is requesting $3 million to perform necessary mechanical, electrical, plumbing modernization work on the Monroe Building, located on the UAMS campus in Little Rock. In addition to the utility upgrades, grant funding also will cover the cost to replace the roof on the decades old building. UAMS acquired the 50,000-square foot building in 2018, offering much-needed space at its main campus for housing new and expanded programs. In 2019, the Stocked & Reddie food pantry opened in the building, providing more than 700,000 meals to 250 member families since its inception. In 2023, the UAMS Milk Bank opened in the building, the first facility of its kind in Arkansas. The 5,000-square foot milk bank has helped ensure a ready supply of donor milk for sick and vulnerable infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICU) around the state, shortening the time it takes for regional hospitals to receive critical milk supplies and improving outcomes for babies. Previously, Arkansas hospitals relied on donor milk purchased from out of state milk banks. The Milk Bank includes screening, pasteurization, and nutritional analysis facilities, as well as designated spaces for women to express or donate their milk. Arkansas has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation as well as one of the highest infant mortality rates. As the state’s only health sciences university, UAMS is working to reverse those statistics with a multi-pronged strategy to improve maternal and infant health. The UAMS Milk Bank is an element of that strategy. The utility upgrades will allow its programs to expand, including creation of a Maternal Education Center. This center will include space for a fully staffed outpatient education center to provide in-person and telemedicine-based lactation visits, education and training for healthcare providers and families. The utility work and roof replacement also will allow full use of the unused space in the building. UAMS will relocate its Student, Resident, and Faculty Wellness Program and the UAMS Student and Employee Health Services clinic into this space. The UAMS Student and Employee Health Services (SEHS) clinic is now located in the UAMS Central Building, which is the original hospital building on the campus. SEHS provides services required by UAMS policy for employees and current students that include employee physicals, required medical and allergy screenings, as well as immunizations and TB skin tests. Relocating it will allow UAMS to expand its Centers for Simulation Education, which provides simulation education for health professions students and health professionals. The Wellness Clinic is located in the nearly 60-year old Mediplex Building, which was originally an apartment building before UAMS bought it in 1965. More than 15% of the UAMS’ more than 3,000 students use the wellness program each year to receive direct mental health treatment through crisis intervention, therapy, and medication services. The program has averaged more than 4,400 visits a year over the past four academic years. The wellness program provides confidential, free, and timely mental health treatment to improve mental health and, in turn, reduce attrition and burnout. In addition, the Resident and Faculty Wellness Programs provide crisis intervention and medication management. The relocation of the Wellness Clinic will allow the program to improve and expand its services. The new location will be fully ADA accessible and will be closer to student parking areas, offering more convenience and improved privacy. The overall upgrade to the building’s utility systems and replacing the roof will allow continued use of the building and expansion of critical programs focused on community nutrition, improving maternal health in Arkansas, and supporting the physical and mental health of our most precious resource — our people.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).