Brenda Gullett and Dr. Robert Gullett Jr. are putting their money straight back into the fabric of Northwest Arkansas healthcare.
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences announced the couple donated $1 million to support the development of the new Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Hospital in Springdale. Honestly, you can look at the last twenty years and see exactly why this matters: for a long time, anyone in this region needing specialized orthopedic care had to drive to Little Rock or St. Louis. Now, the center is coming home.
UAMS released the details Tuesday, confirming that the gift will help fund the hospital expected to open within the next year. It’s a textbook example of local philanthropy supporting infrastructure here, rather than seeing that money vanish into a national distant entity.
Dr. Gullett isn’t a stranger to the regional campus. He serves as an associate professor and orthopedic surgeon at the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus. That means he lives and works in this community, seeing the actual patients who are going to walk through those doors in Springdale.
Dr. Robert Gullett Jr. (left) and Brenda Gullett are shown in this June 2015 file photo.
“A lifetime of caring for people drives my desire to leave a legacy through UAMS,” Gullett said in a press release. He went on to explain that this hospital is about more than concrete structures; it’s about what happens inside them.
He highlights the specific need for a facility that handles both everyday general patients and the massive population of student-athletes that the University of Arkansas community churns out. “The Orthopaedic & Sports Medicine Hospital is a landmark statement for healthcare in Northwest Arkansas, offering general patients world-class clinical care, while also creating unparalleled treatment for student-athletes, something that I’ve been passionate about for many years.”
If you’ve ever watched a Razorback game or seen a high school playoff at Northwest Little Rock or Springdale, you know
Source: NWA Democrat Gazette
