UAMS, pressed by financial problems for several years, told the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees today that it had a $1.5 billion operating budget that doesn’t call for deficit spending.
The heart surgery program, suspended because of loss of personnel, will resume in weeks with local surgeons, the campus said.
In April, the campus said it had made up $32 million of a $70 million deficit, but still had other budget cutting to do. Dozens of jobs have been eliminated in the cost-cutting.
Earlier today, the UAMS chancellor sent this message to faculty:
I have very good news regarding UAMS’ finances that I would like to share. Today at the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees meeting we presented our budget for fiscal year 2019, which begins July 1. This was the first time in a number of years that we have been able to present a balanced budget. We also were pleased to report that we are on target to end FY 2018 within the budget approved by the Board of Trustees. Much of this success can be attributed to the hard work you have done to address the challenging budget issues of the last year.
And that work has not gone unnoticed. Gov. Asa Hutchinson has released $5 million from his Rainy Day Fund to UAMS for operations and education. This vote of confidence in the wake of our improved financial situation will go a long way to help us fulfil our mission of educating tomorrow’s health professionals, researching new treatments and providing exceptional patient care.
I want to thank you for continuing to do your jobs faithfully and passionately for the people of Arkansas and all those whose lives are touched by our work here. We will need to continue our efforts in the weeks and months to come to sustain our financial progress.
I appreciate your continued support and belief in our mission to improve health and health care in this state and beyond.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Gardner, Pharm. D., Ed.D.
Interim Chancellor
A wonk special bonus, the UA budget books presented today.