The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) was founded in 1879 by Dr. P. O. Hooper and seven of his fellow doctors as the Medical Department of Arkansas Industrial University. The medical school continued to grow into the 20th Century and moved across Little Rock to keep up with enrollment.
In 1951 Governor Sid McMath funded the construction of a new medical school campus and hospital on a 26-acre site on the western edge of Little Rock. UAMS moved into the new buildings in 1956. As Little Rock grew over the next 65 years, UAMS expanded from a small medical school with a charity hospital into an award-winning academic institution and research center.
In addition to its next-generation hospital and outpatient center on the now 84-acre campus, UAMS is home to the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions, Public Health, and a graduate school. But UAMS is much more than its central campus, the university runs clinics in all 75 counties in the state, eight regional family medical centers, eight Centers on Aging, and one of the most successful Head Start Programs in the nation.
UAMS is more than a hospital, it is more than a university and it is more than cutting-edge research. We are a health system — one that serves all of the state — and demonstrates our commitment to providing quality health care to all Arkansans.
Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA
UAMS Health includes the UAMS Medical Center, Neighborhood Clinics, orthopaedic clinics, women’s clinics, the Family Medical Centers at UAMS regional sites, digital health clinics, and the affiliated clinics that UAMS operates in conjunction with other health care providers.