Welcome to the Section of Community Pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and Arkansas Children’s Hospital! Our section’s motto is “Caring for Children Where They Are.” We provide state of the art health care to underserved children in their local communities. Our dedicated team of pediatric health experts navigate the intersection of advocacy, public health and social determinants of health to provide community based holistic care. We strive to collaborate with community partners to meet the needs of underserved populations and magnify their voices in the state of Arkansas and beyond.
Our flagship clinic is in southwest Little Rock. This beautiful, colorful clinic was built in 2017 to fill a need to provide care to the underserved children in southwest Little Rock. Southwest Little Rock Clinic is in the heart of Little Rock’s Hispanic/Latino and African American communities and serves the surrounding neighborhoods. It was specifically designed to allow a multidisciplinary team of providers, including physicians, nurse practitioners, social workers, care managers, nurses, respiratory therapists, interpreters and community health workers to sit together at round tables to collaborate in real time on the care of children. All children and families are welcomed by the diverse staff including a number of bilingual Spanish speaking staff and providers.
We have school-based health clinics which are vital to our mission. We provide care at Chicot Elementary School, Stephens Elementary School and Arkansas Schools for the Deaf and Blind. The benefits of school-based health clinics go beyond providing convenient access to medical care, they are an important tool in students achieving academic success.
The Section of Community Pediatrics is a great opportunity for learning. Currently UAMS medical students have the opportunity to take an elective in our section. We also have UAMS pediatric residents and UAMS APRN students who routinely rotate through our clinics. It is an excellent opportunity to work with culturally diverse and underserved patient populations, to experience firsthand the brilliance and beauty of these communities and the importance of advocacy, public health and the social determinants of health on child health.
The Section of Community Pediatrics is composed of a dedicated group of pediatric providers who practice with gratitude and are humbled by the awesome responsibility of families entrusting their childrens’ lives to us. The decisions we make now, the help we provide or don’t provide in this moment can, in many instances, shape these children for the of their life. Each person in our section has a unique interest. Whether it’s breast feeding and lactation medicine, school readiness, population health, autism screening and diagnosis, mental health care and helping teens build resiliency, obesity, mindfulness training for deaf and blind children, organizing activities to build community resiliency such as Day of the Children Celebration, obtaining a Blue and You Grant to support our Fresh Food Pantry during the summer, and Community HealthWatch grant which helps shape national advocacy and policy, we are all passionate about improving the quality of life for children. We are providing care where the children are and invite you to join us on this journey.
Associate Professor of Pediatrics