Reynolds geriatrics center construction off schedule.

Ground-breaking for the Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging at Little Rock s University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences has been postponed. Construction was supposed to have started in February with a ceremonial groundbreaking, but a change in architects and trouble acquiring a piece of land have slowed the project.

Dr. David Lipschitz, chairman of the newly created Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatrics, says the new architect on the project was selected because the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation wasn't pleased with the original architect.

"The design was unacceptable to the foundation," he says. The foundation in February 1997 donated $25.5 million, with $15 million going toward the construction the geriatrics center and $10.5 million used to form the geriatrics department.

As a result of unacceptable building designs, Lipschitz says the foundation asked that Brooks Jackson Architects Inc. of Little Rock be replaced. A national search was required, yielding David Hogland, a Pittsburgh architect, to the lead the design. No one at Brooks Jackson Architects returned messages from Arkansas Business for comment.

Lipschitz says Hogland is nationally recognized as a leading architect of buildings used for elderly care. He was a lead architect of the Norma Saul and Joseph E. Saul Alzheimer's Special Care Center at the Jewish Home & Hospital for Aged in New York.

"He's here three or four times a month," Lipschitz says of Hogland's involvement. "I am involved intimately with the design of the project. It's determined by me and user groups. It will be a state-of-the-art facility."

No renderings have been approved, so the exact design of the facility isn't known, Hogland says.

"The people at [UAMS] would like to have a rendering sometime by early February for public relations purposes," he says. In fact, UAMS officials are planning a one-year update on the center's progress for Feb. 4, as opposed to a ground-breaking ceremony. Lipschitz says the ground-breaking will take place between March and May.

"It will probably be closer to May than March," he admits.

Plans Being Developed

The doctor says the building will have about 60,000 SF of usable space and will likely occupy about 90,000 SF. It's still being worked out if the building will be four or five floors. Hogland was in Little Rock last week to help nail down the building's size.

The Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging will have clinic areas, classrooms, an auditorium, counseling rooms, waiting rooms, a research library, a rehabilitation area and a clinical research area.

Lipschitz says the centerpiece of the building will be "telemedicine" and a "telecommunications command center."

"This will link us with all hospitals throughout the state," he says.

Additionally, researchers and doctors will be able to take videoconferencing equipment with them to rural areas of the state and conduct long-distance research and patient evaluations.

The Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatrics must meet goals during a five-year period to continue receiving grant money from the foundation after the five-year period and $10.5 million have passed, Lipschitz says. The department was officially enacted by the University of Arkansas System Board and became functional last July.

First Chairman

Lipschitz, a 20-year employee at UAMS, was appointed the department's first chairman. One of the milestones of the department is requiring all third-year medical students to take a four-week course on geriatric medicine.

"We want to improve the education of physicians in the field of geriatrics," he says.

Another goal of the department will be to expand research into the care of older people. Recruiting of new physicians is under way, he says.

Currently, the department is operating out of various parts of the UAMS campus and the John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The Donald W. Reynolds Senior Health Center at UAMS has grown from seeing about 1,000 clinic visitors to about 8,000 in 1997, Lipschitz says.

"I truly can't tell you what this gift will mean to the state," he says. "It is a wonderful opportunity."

The gift from the foundation for UAMS has created just the second geriatrics department in the nation. Studies on aging are expected to grow rapidly nationwide as the baby-boomer population reaches retirement age.

The Donald W. Reynolds Foundation is named for the founder and original owner of Donrey Media Group Inc., a Fort Smith-based newspaper, billboard and cable television operator. The foundation gives grants annually to charitable and governmental organizations in Arkansas, Nevada and Oklahoma.

The $25.5 million grant to UAMS is the largest gift from a single source to an institution of higher education in the state.