UAMS Northwest receives major boost with $250K gift from Johnelle Hunt

Billionaire developer and philanthropist Johnelle Hunt, co-founder of J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc., has pledged $250,000 to establish the Hunt Family Fund for Excellence at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). UAMS announced the details Thursday (Aug. 3).

The fund will support activities of the UAMS Northwest regional campus. Headquartered in Little Rock, UAMS is the state’s only comprehensive academic medical center. It established a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in 2007 in the former 323,510-square-foot Washington Regional Medical Center on College Avenue in Fayetteville.

UAMS plans to build an orthopedic and sports medicine center west of Interstate 49 in Springdale. The Hunt gift will also fund a feasibility study for additional operations on 48 acres west of Interstate 49 near the Pleasant Grove Road exit in Rogers. UAMS acquired the land in 2021.

“I am pleased with the impact that UAMS has had in Northwest Arkansas and am honored to help continue to support its mission here,” Hunt said in a news release. “Northwest Arkansas continues to grow, which means it needs a robust healthcare system to keep up with the demand for quality clinical care that is supported by excellent healthcare education and research.

“I believe UAMS’ presence in the area is integral in fulfilling the area’s need for first-class healthcare.”

According to the release, Hunt and her family have long been benefactors in various areas of Arkansas, including projects related to the University of Arkansas System and supporting programs at UAMS like the Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, and Arkansas Center for Addictions Research, Education, and Services (Arkansas CARES).

“For many years, Johnelle Hunt has been an amazing friend and partner of UAMS, helping to expand medicine in many areas of care throughout Arkansas,” UAMS Chancellor and CEO Cam Patterson said. “The rapid growth of Northwest Arkansas has created challenges regarding the region’s health care needs, but with leaders like Mrs. Hunt, we are better able to overcome these barriers.”

Hunt hopes her gift inspires others to support UAMS’ healthcare programs in Northwest Arkansas.

“UAMS Northwest is committed to serving the community in the Northwest Arkansas region,” said Amy Wenger, vice chancellor of the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus. “Mrs. Hunt’s generous donation will help us develop and plan additional infrastructure needed to support our research, education and clinical mission areas in Northwest Arkansas.”

UAMS Northwest Regional Campus accommodates over 300 medical, pharmacy, nursing, and health professions students, along with 68 residents and fellows, managing 15 facility locations in the region with various clinics.

Earlier this year, Hunt, 91, made Forbes’ 2023 list of America’s richest self-made women. She is ranked No. 6 overall on the list with a net worth of $4.4 billion, according to Forbes, which published its list on June 1.

The J.B. Hunt co-founder is also chairman and owner of Hunt Ventures in Rogers. According to Forbes, Hunt increased her net worth by $72 million since last year.

“Six decades ago, Hunt co-founded rice hull packaging firm J.B. Hunt with her husband (d. 2006),” Forbes wrote. “They later turned it into a trucking firm. She was the detail-oriented business manager; he was the ideas person. ‘Johnnie was looking through the windshield and I was always looking through the rear-view,’ Hunt once said. She is still a key shareholder of the $18 billion [market cap] freight haul company.”