Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) celebrated the investiture of Ashley Ross, M.D., associate professor and chief of the Neonatology Section, in the Walmart Endowed Chair in Neonatology on May 9 at Arkansas Children’s Hospital.
“Endowed chairs create opportunities to invest in professionals who are dedicated to transforming health care delivery and advancing child health,” said Fred Scarborough, president of Arkansas Children’s Foundation. “We are proud to honor Dr. Ashley Ross and Walmart – who has been a partner and supporter of Arkansas Children’s for more than 30 years.”
“We are pleased to celebrate Dr. Ross, who exemplifies the great care we provide patients in the UAMS neonatal intensive care unit,” said UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson, M.D., M.B.A.
Ross received his medical degree from the UAMS College of Medicine in 2000. He completed his pediatrics residency at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and continued his training with a neonatology fellowship at UAMS and ACH. He joined the Department of Pediatrics Neonatology Section after completing his fellowship in 2006. Ross served as Neonatal-Perinatal Fellowship director from 2008 to 2015, earning the College of Medicine’s Residency Educator Award in 2011. Ross was promoted to associate professor in 2012.
Ross was honored with the Chris Hackler Award for Excellence in Medical Ethics at UAMS in 2013. In 2016, along with ACH, he helped established the ACH Nursery Alliance as a statewide collaborative of delivery hospitals focused on improving outcomes for neonates and reducing Arkansas’ infant mortality rate. Ross was named the Neonatology Section chief at UAMS and ACH in 2017. The ACH Nursery Alliance received the Arkansas Children’s Foundation Betty A. Lowe award in 2018 for significantly contributing to the health and wellbeing of children in Arkansas. Ross was honored with the 2019 Ruth Olive Beall Award at Arkansas Children’s for consistently displaying the values of safety, teamwork, compassion and excellence.
In 1987, Sam Walton, founder of Walmart and Sam’s Club, committed his company and its resources to raising money for children’s hospitals. Thanks to the countless hours volunteering and fundraising through their partnership with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, Walmart and Sam’s Club associates across the United States and Canada have raised $1 billion and have helped hundreds of millions of children. This represents the largest cash amount raised by a company for a nonprofit.
The Walmart Endowed Chair in Neonatology was established by Walmart in 2007.
Endowed chairs help Arkansas Children’s and UAMS recruit and retain top leaders in the medical field who can provide the best care for patients. An endowed chair or professorship remains one of the highest honors that UAMS and Arkansas Children’s can bestow on faculty members. Those named to a chair are among the most highly regarded scientists, clinicians and educators in their fields.