Chilton Foundation Gives $75K Boost To Health Center Project

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The A. L. Chilton Foundation of Dallas, Texas will provide $75,000 to the University of Arkansas to help construct a new and much-needed health center.

The new facility will be located at the corner of Maple Street and Garland Avenue as part of the Northwest Quadrant construction project. It will have 35,000 SF of space to better serve patients; increased capacity for family medical practice and women’s health care; confidential and well-designed space for Counseling and Psychological Services; a multi-purpose room for health-education programs, awareness events and health-promotion initiatives; a larger and more efficient pharmacy with a private counseling area for learning about prescribed medicines; upgrade its technological infrastructure and computer software to better maintain student records, billing and educational information; serve as a bridge between the main campus and the new Northwest Quadrant Residential complex currently being constructed; offer an allergy and immunization clinic, laboratory testing, more modern x-ray equipment and technology; and more.

"We are grateful to the Chilton Foundation for this gift to the Health Center building project," said Mary Alice Serafini, director of the University Health Center. "As the university strives to achieve its student enrollment projection of 22,500 students by the year 2010, the need for an expanded health center that’s easily accessible by all members of our campus community is even greater. The Health Center has evolved from what many may think of as a student infirmary with little more than a nurse and a cot. We are an accredited provider of medical and mental health services as well as health education, staffed by physicians, mental health clinicians, nurses and other healthcare practitioners and technicians. The Health Center is an important source of healthcare and health education for many people."

The University of Arkansas Health Center primarily serves students, although healthcare has expanded over the years to include faculty and staff. They provide physicals for children’s groups as a form of outreach and community service. In 2002, the Health Center served 7,800 students and had 21,000 health contacts. These contacts could be anything from requests for information to referral services. The current 20,000-square foot facility is located on the edge of campus and not easily accessible to students. The student health fee covers student office visits.

The Chilton Foundation Trust is an independent foundation set up in 1945 in Texas by Arthur L. and Leonore Chilton. A. L. Chilton, who owned Sky Broadcasting Service, a chain of radio stations in Texas and Arkansas, died in 1973. The foundation’s primary funding interests are in the areas of healthcare, religious organizations and education fields.

Patti Brown, a member of the distribution committee of the A. L. Chilton Foundation and 1975 graduate of the University of Arkansas, said, "I am thrilled that the A.L. Chilton Foundation can play a part in the helping to make a great university an even greater place of higher education for the future."

The Chilton Foundation’s gift will be counted toward The $300 Million Challenge, the campaign-within-a-campaign to raise $300 million for academic programs to match the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation’s $300 million gift. Challenge funds must be raised between Jan. 1, 2002, and June 30, 2005, the end of the Campaign. The Campaign goal is to raise $900 million, of which $700.9 million has been raised as of March 31, 2003. The Challenge total stands at $87.1 million.