UAMS chancellor Barnes honored, discusses efforts to keep rural hospitals open
University of Arkansas Board of Trustees Chairman Randy Lawson, left, hands a medallion to UA System President Jay Silveria to place on UAMS Chancellor Dr. C. Lowry Barnes during an investiture ceremony Tuesday in Little Rock. Photo: Michael Hibblen
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Chancellor Dr. C. Lowry Barnes was invested Tuesday in the Harry P. Ward Chancellor’s Distinguished Chair during a ceremony that brought together state, university and health care leaders.
Philanthropist Alice Walton and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders were among those who praised Barnes during the ceremony at the Fred W. Smith Conference Center on the main UAMS campus in Little Rock.
The investiture marked another milestone for Barnes, a nationally recognized orthopaedic surgeon whose association with UAMS dates back more than four decades. He became interim chancellor in July 2025 after the departure of Chancellor Cam Patterson. Following a national search in which Barnes was one of four finalists, the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees approved UA System President Jay B. Silveria’s recommendation in February to make Barnes the university’s next chancellor.
“Lowry Barnes is, without a doubt, one of the most energetic and visionary leaders UAMS has had in its proud history,” Silveria said. “As chancellor, Dr. Barnes has spearheaded efforts to grow UAMS’ reach and revenue, create a sustainable and self-sufficient health care system, increasing research funding, accelerating philanthropic funding, increasing employee wages, and working with his executive leadership team to create a culture of hospitality.”
During his remarks, Barnes outlined his vision for UAMS, including efforts to expand the institution’s reach across Arkansas and help preserve hospitals in rural areas.
Many hospitals in smaller towns and cities have closed in recent years. Barnes said UAMS is working on agreements to partner with facilities facing financial challenges to help ensure they remain open. Discussions are ongoing, and because of nondisclosure agreements, he could not identify the hospitals involved.
“This institution that was a one-hospital system six months ago will likely be a 10-hospital system in a couple of years,” Barnes said. “We think it’s important that we continue to work across the state and provide the care that’s so needed.”
Barnes acknowledged that such expansion might make members of the UA Board of Trustees nervous, but said UAMS has a responsibility to improve health care statewide and ensure communities are not left behind.
“When you’re looking at a hospital that’s delivering 500 babies a year and is on the brink of closure, we have to save them,” Barnes said to applause. “This state cannot afford to have more hospitals close that deliver babies.”
Barnes also discussed the expansion of UAMS clinics around the state, including a new location scheduled to open Thursday in Bryant.
A partnership between UAMS and Jefferson Regional in Pine Bluff will begin Oct. 1. Barnes said the hospital has personal significance because it was the first hospital where he worked, serving as an orderly.
“Obviously, that has a lot of meaning to me,” Barnes said. “It is a place we’re gonna make a difference, and I think you’ll see that it’s gonna be a great relationship for Jefferson Regional.”
Barnes said he has developed a seven-year plan for what he wants UAMS to accomplish by 2033. Among his priorities are retaining employees by raising wages and training more medical students to eventually help address a physician shortage.
Another priority was keeping the Proton Center at UAMS operating after financial losses had put its future in doubt. Barnes said the highly specialized cancer treatment it provides needs to remain available in Arkansas.
“It’s the most challenging health care deal I’ve ever seen, and so we worked on it for months,” Barnes said. “Fortunately, we were able to work it out with the bondholders, and it will become the UAMS Proton Center and be a part of our institution now.”
Barnes graduated with honors from the UAMS College of Medicine in 1986 and remained at UAMS for his internship and residency in orthopaedic surgery. He later completed a fellowship in adult reconstructive and arthritis surgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston.
Sanders said Barnes could have practiced anywhere in the country but chose to return home to Arkansas.
“Forty years after walking these halls as a medical student, Dr. Barnes now leads them,” Sanders said. “He’s the medical school’s first chancellor who is both a native Arkansan and practicing surgeon.”
Barnes entered private practice as a joint replacement surgeon and eventually became president and managing partner of Arkansas Specialty Orthopaedics, a position he held for more than a decade. He returned to UAMS in 2014 as professor and chair of the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.
In 2017, Barnes was invested in the Carl L. Nelson, M.D., Distinguished Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery. He also became founding director of The Orthopaedic and Spine Hospital, which opened on the UAMS campus in 2023.
Walton, who founded the nonprofit Heartland Whole Health Institute in 2019 and the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine in 2021, thanked Barnes for his leadership. She said he instinctively understands the power of collaboration and working toward a healthier future.
“None of us can accomplish our biggest goals alone, and the best solutions always come from diverse people coming together and working together,” Walton said. “Whether we’re talking about improving health outcomes, educating the next generation of physicians, advancing research or expanding access to care, lasting progress only happens when we work together around a shared purpose.”
The chair Barnes received Tuesday is named for Harry P. Ward, M.D., who served as UAMS chancellor from 1979 until 2000 and oversaw a period of major expansion at the institution.
Ward is credited with helping transform UAMS from a relatively small medical school and charity hospital into an academic health center and research institution. During his tenure, UAMS’ physical size increased fivefold, research funding grew substantially and more than $200 million in major construction projects were completed.
The Harry P. Ward Chancellor’s Distinguished Chair was created in 2005 and was the first chancellor’s chair endowed at an Arkansas university. Former Chancellor I. Dodd Wilson was its inaugural recipient, followed by Daniel W. Rahn and Patterson. Barnes is the fourth UAMS chancellor to hold the chair.
The chair was established with a $1 million lead gift from the Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation and additional donations that brought its endowment to $2.5 million. Income from the endowment is available to the chancellor to help recruit faculty and administrators.
This story was reported for Talk Business & Politics and The Pine Bluff Commercial.
