LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) College of Nursing received a $300,000 grant from the Windgate Foundation.
The grant will fund scholarships, student fees and book costs for 20 students enrolled in the College of Nursing.
“We are continually inspired by the Windgate LITTLE Foundation’s commitment to the health and wellness of Arkansas, and we are grateful that it chooses to support many health care programs at UAMS,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. “In advancing our state’s health care system, we need an extensive, well-educated nursing workforce, and we are fortunate that we can count on Windgate Foundation’s support in making this a reality.”
The Windgate Foundation, based in Little Rock, is a private foundation established in 1993, whose purpose is to advance contemporary craft and strengthen visual arts education in the United States. Education, health and community initiatives are an additional area of focus in Arkansas.
The Windgate Foundation has partnered with UAMS since 1996, and in addition to the College of Nursing, it has made contributions to the College of Pharmacy, the Graduate School, the Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, the Cord Blood Bank of Arkansas, and endowed chairs in several UAMS departments.
“Arkansas is currently experiencing a critical shortage of nurses, so it is important that we work with statewide partners to support creative and sustainable ways to promote nursing education,” said Patricia Cowan, Ph.D., RN, dean of the UAMS College of Nursing. “The Windgate Foundation has been a steadfast supporter of nursing education in Arkansas, and this grant to the UAMS College of Nursing will help offset many of the financial costs that nursing students face in pursuit of their education, which will help create nurses that our state’s health care system desperately needs.”
In addition to UAMS, the Windgate Foundation has supported nursing programs at the University of Arkansas – Pulaski Technical College, the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, Southern Arkansas University and Arkansas Children’s.
