Arkansas Children’s continues its statewide public launch of the Campaign for a Healthier Tomorrow, a $250 million campaign designed to support the promise of unprecedented child health. Since 2015, the Campaign for a Healthier Tomorrow has secured more than $200 million in gifts.
An anonymous donor gave $1 million dollars to the Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) Jonesboro Clinic. Half of the gift supports the current expansion of the clinic and the remaining half will be used to grow an endowment for the ACH Jonesboro Clinic supporting the operations of the clinic in perpetuity.
The Sunderland Foundation, the volunteer group Circle of Friends, and many statewide supporters have collectively given more than $1.5 million to expand programs and services of the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Jonesboro Clinic and the Campaign for a Healthier Tomorrow.
Valero’s $1 million gift and Arkansas Children’s longtime supporter Stuart Cobb’s $500,000 gift will both support statewide dental outreach programs at Arkansas Children’s.
“These investments from leading advocates are key to advancing child health,” said Fred Scarborough, chief development officer for Arkansas Children’s and president of Arkansas Children’s Foundation.
The Arkansas Children’s Dental Outreach Program includes mobile dental clinics and the school-based Dental Sealant Program.
In 2018, Kim and Chris Fowler’s gift was instrumental in the purchase of the ACH Jonesboro Clinic building—bringing their total investment in Arkansas Children’s and the Jonesboro Clinic to more than $1.5 million dollars. To celebrate their generosity, the ACH Jonesboro Clinic building is named the Kim and Chris Fowler Center.
“Providing unprecedented healthcare delivery and improving child health is vital to the future of Arkansas,” said Fred Scarborough, chief development officer for Arkansas Children’s and president of Arkansas Children’s Foundation.
Arkansas Children’s Foundation Board member Belinda Shults has given an additional $500,000 to the Belinda H. and Robert L. Shults Endowed Chair in Injury Prevention at Arkansas Children’s. This endowment supports the continued work of the Arkansas Children’s Injury Prevention Center through education and advocacy for the safety of children across Arkansas.
Endowed chairs provide Arkansas Children’s the ability to recruit top leaders in the medical field who can provide the best care for patients. An endowed chair remains one of the highest honors Arkansas Children’s can bestow on its most distinguished physicians. Those named to a chair are among the most highly regarded scientists, practitioners and professors in their fields.
“Supporting Arkansas Children’s is one of the best investments one can make,” said Belinda Shults. “I’m proud to know this gift will support the mission of Arkansas Children’s in perpetuity.”
Arkansas Children’s Foundation Board Chair Charlie Whiteside and his wife Cappy are the 2019 chairs for The Campaign for a Healthier Tomorrow.
Northeast Arkansas has the third largest concentration of children in the state with approximately 36 children per square mile. Arkansas Children’s Hospital Jonesboro Clinic saves approximately 700,000 minutes of patient travel time to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock each year.
Recent investments in children’s health include:
In 2015, Arkansas Children’s invested in two new 76-D Sikorsky Angel One helicopters with the capabilities to reach a child anywhere in the state in 55 minutes. Since 1978, the Angel One Transport team has transported the most critically ill and injured patients to Arkansas Children’s and helped establish a statewide network of care for children in Arkansas.
Arkansas Children’s Dental Outreach programs are providing care to children across the state. Four full-service mobile dental vans serve children in need of root canals, cavity fillings, extractions and crowns. School-based programs provide oral health education, dental sealants and screenings to more than 8,000 students annually.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital has the state’s only level IV NICU. In 2016, ACH announced the creation of the Arkansas Children’s Nursery Alliance to support hospitals around the state, providing children the care they need close to home. Since the program’s inception, the nursery alliance has established alliances with Conway Regional in Conway, CHI St. Vincent in Hot Springs, Jefferson Regional Medical Center in Pine Bluff, Medical Center of South Arkansas in El Dorado, and Ashley County Medical in Crossett.
In 2016, Arkansas Children’s established the David M. Clark Center for Safe and Healthy Children, a place dedicated to the care and treatment of neglected and abused children and their families. The center is a single, safe place for children to receive medical, psychological and social health services, and by providing outpatient medical evaluations for children through the Rice Medical Clinic, Family Treatment Program, and Team for Children at Risk.
In 2017, the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Southwest Little Rock Clinic opened. Staffed with bilingual physicians and nurses, the clinic provides general pediatric and preventative care to families in the region. Arkansas Children’s Hospital clinics in Jonesboro and West Little Rock also provide primary care to children in the state.
In 2018, Arkansas Children’s Northwest became one of the nation’s newest children’s hospitals. Located in Springdale, Arkansas Children’s Northwest provides more than 20 subspecialty areas and a general pediatric clinic. In 2015, Arkansas Children’s announced the expansion of services in Northwest Arkansas through the building of a 336,000-square-foot hospital. More than 14,000 gifts were made, and $81 million in philanthropy supported the building of ACNW.