Physicians’ residency program receives $150,000 donation

Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas gave $150,000 to support the community internal medicine residency program in Northwest Arkansas, according to a news release.

The residency program is a partnership between the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Northwest Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas in Rogers and Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks in Fayetteville.

“The first eight resident physicians in the program started work June 30,” the release shows. “The program includes clinical rotations at the three partners’ hospitals and clinics.”

Blue & You Foundation for a Healthier Arkansas is a “charitable foundation established and funded by Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield to promote better health in Arkansas,” according to the organization’s website. Each year, the foundation hands out about $2 million in grants to nonprofit or government organizations and programs “that positively affect the health of Arkansas.”

In April, Mercy announced the residency program as part of its plan to invest $247 million into healthcare over the next five years. Plans for the program include expanding it to 24 doctors in three years.