The University of Arkansas at Fort Smith (UAFS) on Wednesday (Feb. 4) released more details of a $30 million plan to build and operate a Center for Health Innovation that will include a Center for Maternal and Infant Care. UAFS does not yet have a construction timeline.
U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., on Monday (Feb. 2) announced approval of $15 million in federal funding to help build a Center for Mother and Infant Care on the UAFS campus. According to a Wednesday press release from UAFS, the center will be part of a larger Center for Health Innovation in a new two-story, 30,000-square-foot building on the campus.
Touted as a “fear-free delivery program,” part of the mother and infant care program will include allowing people to watch simulated birth and postpartum procedures in “learning laboratories.” Those watching will be able to ask “health care professionals their birthing questions and become familiar with the procedures they may encounter in a real hospital setting,” UAFS noted.
“As a mother who gave birth to four babies in less than three years — including a set of twins — I know how different each birthing experience can be,” said UAFS Chancellor Dr. Terisa Riley. “It is natural for mothers and their partners to have fears and many unanswered questions. We hope that this new program will alleviate both of those concerns.”
The maternal and infant care space will be in 16,300 square feet of the first floor. The space will include “high-fidelity” simulation labs and equipment that will allow students and doctors to work together on dealing with “routine and complex obstetric and pediatric care scenarios.” Learning situations will include handling postpartum hemorrhage, neonatal resuscitation, and other pediatric emergencies.
“This funding will help make important strides to strengthen critical aspects of maternal and infant care through the development of the Center for Mother and Infant Healthcare at UAFS,” Boozman said in a statement. “I was proud to champion this project and will continue to advocate the productive use of taxpayer dollars for initiatives that benefit Natural State moms and babies as well as the communities that care for them.”
UAFS also said the new center will help with existing facility constraints in other health care programs. The university received a $9.9 million gift from the Windgate Foundation to double the size of its nursing program in an effort to meet the demand for nurses and other health care workers.
“However, this rapid growth has placed a significant strain on existing instructional space,” UAFS noted.
CENTER SPACE PLANS
Following are other aspects and programs of the planned new center.
- A 250-seat high-tech lecture hall, designed in a theater-style configuration will be used for classes and community programs. “UAFS anticipates hosting classes, professional development workshops, industry conferences, interprofessional simulations, and collaborative demonstrations in the space, inviting health care partners such as Mercy, Baptist Health, and UAMS into the space, while sharing educational offerings with fellow educational institutions, including the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education, the PEAK Innovation Center, Carl Albert State College, and more,” UAFS noted.
- An 80-seat seminar space, which may also be divided into classrooms or breakout rooms.
- A new respiratory therapy program will be part of the larger innovation center.
- The building also will include conference and training spaces, extended reality laboratories, collaboration areas, and faculty offices. “This repeated, hands-on exposure builds clinical judgment, confidence, and rapid decision-making so graduates are prepared to act decisively and save the lives of mothers and infants at the bedside,” said Dr. Paula Julian, executive director of the UAFS School of Nursing.
HEALTH CARE NEED
A maternal and infant care focus at UAFS comes as Arkansas health care advocates and elected officials are doing more to address the state’s historically poor outcomes for women and babies. The Arkansas Maternal Mortality Review Committee’s 2023 legislative report found that 92% of pregnancy-related deaths in Arkansas were considered potentially preventable.
Arkansas has the nation’s fourth highest maternal mortality rate in 2018-22 among the 39 states where data was available in 2018-22, according to KFF, a health care research organization based in San Francisco. The state’s rate was 38 deaths per 100,000 live births. The national average was 23.
Early in 2025 the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health gave Arkansas a “D” grade for the mental health care of mothers. The state received an “F” for its providers and program, a “D” for screening and screening reimbursement, and a “D” for insurance coverage and treatment payments. The only state that borders Arkansas that got a worse grade was Mississippi, which received an “F” overall.
The Arkansas Legislature in 2025 passed the Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act which increases Medicaid eligibility for pregnant women and unbundles Medicaid payments to doctors.
As of 2022, the most recent year for which data are available, 10 Arkansas counties had no OB-GYNs, and 15 counties had no general surgeons, according to Craig Wilson, president and CEO of the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement (ACHI). Among the state’s rural hospitals, 60% do not offer the services, which means expecting mothers must travel farther to deliver a child and receive prenatal and postpartum care, according to ACHI.
The Little Rock-based University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in 2025 announced it will receive $11.7 million over five years to establish the Maternal and Reproductive Community Health Excellence (MaRCH) research center funded through National Institutes of Health’s Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE). The MaRCH research center will focus on training and supporting new researchers who develop innovations in maternal and reproductive health in Arkansas.
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