UAMS Orthopaedics expands to Northwest Arkansas through Shoulder Center of Arkansas
by October 21, 2019 10:53 am 1,556 views
By partnering with local physicians, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock is expanding UAMS Orthopaedics to Northwest Arkansas.
In January 2020, the Shoulder Center of Arkansas in Fayetteville and its therapy partner, 201–train-recover-move, in Fayetteville and Rogers will become part of the statewide UAMS Health system.
Dr. Wesley Cox who founded the Shoulder Center, and Dr. Chad Songy, who joined the practice earlier this year, will both join UAMS and bring their team with them, including the 201 team members, who serve world-class athletes and Olympians. Former University of Arkansas head primary care sports medicine team physician Dr. Ramon Ylanan, who joined UAMS in early October, will continue to practice as a sports medicine specialist with UAMS at the Shoulder Center.
“As the fastest growing part of the state, Northwest Arkansas is a critical area of service for UAMS and its mission of improving the health of all Arkansans,” UAMS Chancellor Cam Patterson said in a statement.
Cox is an orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist and a former head team physician to a number of sports programs at the University of Arkansas. He is a 2003 graduate of UAMS. After completing an internship and residency in orthopaedics at UAMS, Cox moved to San Francisco for fellowship specialty training in shoulder, elbow and sports medicine surgery. He returned to his native Fayetteville in 2009 to found his practice. He received a bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Auburn University.
A Baton Rouge, La., native, Songy received a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Louisiana State University. He received his medical degree from Louisiana State University School of Medicine, Shreveport and completed his residency in orthopaedics at UAMS in 2018. After completing specialized training in complex shoulder and elbow reconstruction at the Mayo Clinic in 2019, he returned to Arkansas to join Cox in practice at the Shoulder Center of Arkansas.
“This partnership opens up a number of unique opportunities in Northwest Arkansas by combining our clinical subspecialty care with the statewide scaling and resources of an institution like UAMS,” Cox said. “We look forward to combining our expertise on shoulder and elbow surgery and all our subspecialties to the existing talent and capabilities at UAMS Orthopaedics to become a health care destination and provider of choice not just for those locally but for all of Arkansas.”
The UAMS Northwest Regional Campus in Fayetteville includes 250 medical, pharmacy, nursing and health professions students, 50 medical and pharmacy residents, and 1,000 community-based faculty. The campus has nine clinics including a student-led clinic and physical, occupational and speech therapy.