September 1, 2026
YOUR OPINION MATTERS!
Member Impact Survey
UAMS e-Link is gathering feedback from our member organizations to better understand the value and impact of our services. What have we done right? How can we improve? Please take a few minutes to share your organization’s experience with UAMS e-Link.
Arkansas Rural Health Transformation Program Awards UAMS Nearly $12 Million to Fund 4 Initiatives, UAMS e-Link Included
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences received nearly $12 million in funding under the THRIVE and PACT initiatives of the Arkansas Rural Health Transformation Program (RHTP).
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced the awards today with four UAMS programs receiving funding — Virtu-RURAL (Remote Upgrades to Rural Arkansas Locations), Stroke Pathways to Advance Rural Knowledge (SPARK), Specialty Telehealth Access for Rural Communities in Arkansas (STAR), and Arkansas Pregnancy Care Connect. Altogether, UAMS was awarded $11,991,204 in funding.
Led by Roy Kitchen, the executive director of UAMS’ e-Link telemedicine infrastructure program, Virtu-RURAL represents a comprehensive, five-year statewide plan to transform rural healthcare delivery by installing new telehealth capacities and improving digital health knowledge among the state’s nearly 1.3 million rural Arkansans. This program was awarded $2.3 million in funding. Read more
HAPPY BIRTHDAY UAMS e-LINK!
Celebrating 15 Years of Linking Health, Education, Research, and Public Safety
For more than 15 years, UAMS e-Link has helped make geography less of a barrier to Arkansas patients and their families. In 2010, a $102.1 million federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP) award, combined with $26.5 million in UAMS matching funds, created a $128.6 million investment in broadband and telehealth infrastructure across Arkansas. What began as an investment in technology and connectivity grew into something far more consequential: a statewide healthcare access system that connects patients, providers, and communities across the state.
The real impact was never the fiber or equipment; it was what Arkansans could do because that infrastructure existed. Patients could access specialty care closer to home. Telemedicine reduced travel, lowered costs, and expanded the range of healthcare and behavioral health services available in rural communities.
How we help:
- High-risk pregnancies are managed closer to home. Through UAMS High-Risk OB, telemedicine expands access to maternal-fetal medicine expertise and helps reduce the travel and missed appointments that create barriers to care.
- Stroke patients receive lifesaving expertise when minutes matter. What began with 40 hospitals connected to neurologists around the clock has grown into the UAMS Stroke Program, now supporting 62 hospitals and thousands of stroke evaluations and treatments.
- Trauma care is faster and more coordinated. The Trauma Image Repository dramatically reduces the time required to transmit large imaging files, helping receiving hospitals prepare for patients before or during transfer.
- Behavioral healthcare reaches more rural communities. Telemedicine allows providers to replace extensive travel with virtual care, expand service areas, and bring mental health services to communities where access is limited.
- Rural healthcare organizations gain capabilities they could not have afforded on their own. From cardiology and rehabilitation to speech therapy and burn consultation, telemedicine connects local providers and patients with specialized expertise.
- Healthcare professionals learn without leaving their communities. Continuing medical education and professional training are delivered remotely, reducing travel costs and time away from patients.
How we’ve grown:
UAMS e-Link’s legacy is not simply the network it built. It is the access to care, expertise, emergency response, education, and opportunity that the network has made possible — particularly for Arkansans living in rural and underserved communities.
SAVE THE DATE
USAC Rural Health Care Benefits Webinar
Did you know your health care organization may be eligible for 65% reimbursement of qualifying broadband connectivity expenses through the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC) Rural Health Care (RHC) Program?
Join us on September 29 at 12:00 p.m. CT to learn how eligible health care providers (HCPs) can take advantage of this valuable funding opportunity. UAMS e-Link subject matter experts Michael Wallace, MBA, Assistant Director, and Martin Maize, Senior Project Manager, will provide an in-depth overview of the FCC Universal Service Fund and the Rural Health Care (RHC) Program. They’ll explain eligibility requirements, the application process, and how your organization can maximize available reimbursement.
Whether you’re new to the program or looking to learn how USAC benefits can help your organization, this informative session will provide practical guidance and valuable insights. We hope you’ll join us! Register here.
USAC Filing Window Open: July 1, 2026 – June 30, 2027
UAMS e-Link members who want to request funding should start planning now for USAC-eligible network equipment refresh, warranties, licensing, and professional services from our RFP 2025-awarded vendors. Anyone with USAC-supported connectivity can come to us for savings of up to 65% on a lifecycle equipment refresh. UAMS e-Link charges only 10% of the savings we secure, and we handle the whole process — including filing, documentation, and all USAC communication.
- 65% Max Reimbursement
- 10% e-Link Fee
- 100% Full-Service Support
Contact us at uamselink@uams.edu
July 1, 2026
UAMS Digital Health Expertise Helps Expand High-Risk Obstetric Care in Louisiana
When Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, needed a digital solution to improve maternal-fetal medicine care in its clinics, it turned to its neighbors in Arkansas for help. Now, thanks to a partnership with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ (UAMS) Institute for Digital Health & Innovation, things are running more smoothly than ever.
The program’s success is supported by …