LITTLE ROCK — The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) has hired Brian W. Jones, DHSc, as the next vice chancellor for Regional Campuses. He will begin his new role Aug. 1. 

 

Jones will replace Richard Turnage, M.D., who is retiring after a distinguished career as a surgeon, educator and administrator, including more than 15 years in a variety of leadership positions at UAMS. 

 

“We are excited that Dr. Brian Jones is joining us at UAMS to lead our Regional Campuses,” said Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA, UAMS chancellor and CEO of UAMS Health. “He is an experienced health care administrator who understands the critical need for quality health care across the state of Arkansas.” 

 

Since 2017, Jones has been the president and chief executive officer of the SHARE Foundation, an El Dorado nonprofit that works to identify and foster programs to improve health and well-being in that region. In 2023, he also was named president/CEO and vice chair of the board for SARH Holdings, Inc., a nonprofit holding company organized by partners that included the SHARE Foundation, UAMS, MurphyUSA Charitable Foundation and the Murphy Foundation to purchase and operate the hospital in El Dorado, now known as South Arkansas Regional Hospital. 

 

“I am excited about being able to have a statewide influence over health and well-being with this position at UAMS,” Jones said. “We have worked diligently to improve the health and well-being of south Arkansas, and I’m excited about the potential to have a greater impact through this new role.”

 

Jones also has been a member of the UAMS Family Practice Residency Council, the Arkansas Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging and the Arkansas Humanities Council Board. 

 

Before coming to Arkansas, Jones worked as a director or administrator for hospice programs in Iowa, Tennessee and Kentucky — most recently as director of hospice and palliative care from 2012-2017 for St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Edgewood, Kentucky. In 2014, he was named the Distinguished Leader of the Year by the Kentucky Association of Hospice and Palliative Care.

 

Jones earned his Doctor of Health Sciences degree from A.T. Still University in Mesa, Arizona. He also has a graduate certificate in health care administration from Des Moines University in Iowa and a Master of Science degree with a concentration in systems thinking from Lubbock Christian University in Texas. 

 

UAMS Regional Campuses, formerly the Area Health Education Centers (AHECs), was founded in 1973, through the combined efforts of the governor, the State Legislature and UAMS, to help address the state’s shortage and uneven distribution of primary care physicians. There are nine regional campuses located throughout the state.