In 2004, The University of Texas Health Center at Tyler (UTHCT) received a $100,000 donation from Red and Kim Little to create the Red and Kim Little Healthy Aging Outreach Endowment, which is invested in the Long Term Fund.

Mr. Little is a member of the UTHCT President’s Council, a member of the UTHCT Development Board, and has been a Health Center supporter for more than a decade. On August 3, 2006, the Development Board named Mr. Little a Board Member Emeritus.

The Healthy Aging Outreach Program is part of UTHCT’s Center for Healthy Aging (CHA). One of the components funded by the Little’s gift is an annual lecture for seniors presented by a nationally known speaker. Funds are used to pay the speaker’s fees and expenses and to buy educational materials for the program.

Another aspect of the Red and Kim Little Healthy Aging Outreach Endowment involves public health education and expanding opportunities for seniors to receive current health related information. It pays for educational materials and supplies distributed at area health fairs, such as Tyler’s Senior Health and Living Expo, on topics that affect older adults. In addition, the donation supports UTHCT healthcare professionals as they educate area nursing home staff about issues such as wound care, patient mobility, and potential interactions between drugs and herbal supplements. The training is done via videos, small-group presentations, and distance-learning opportunities through the UTHCT-based Northeast Texas Consortium, or NETnet.

Dr. David Lipschitz, Chair of the Donald W. Reynolds Department of Geriatrics and Director of the Center on Aging at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, was the keynote speaker at the first annual Red and Kim Little Healthy Aging Lecture Series on March 31, 2005. The guest speaker in March 2006 was Robert E. Roush, Ed.D, MPH, Director of the Texas Consortium Geriatrics Education Center at the Roy M. and Phyllis Gough Huffington Center on Aging at Baylor College of Medicine.

The first Red and Kim Little Healthy Aging Lecture Series in 2005 featured Dr. David Lipschitz, Director of the Center on Aging at The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Shown are (from left) Dr. Lipschitz, Kim Little, Red Little, and UTHCT President Dr. Kirk A. Calhoun.

The Red and Kim Little Healthy Aging Outreach Endowment is an important element in the overall mission of UTHCT’s Center for Healthy Aging. Since being designated the East Texas Center for Rural Geriatric Studies by the 78th Texas Legislature in 2003, the Health Center has opened the Center for Healthy Aging outpatient clinic in the Riter Center for Advanced Medicine and created a separate Senior Assessment Clinic for frail and high-risk seniors. In addition, the center’s medical professionals now provide clinical care to 12 nursing homes. The latest initiative of the CHA is the Aging Research and Treatment Unit (ART), a unique hospital setting that will offer specialized care to elderly East Texans.

Thanks to friends like Red and Kim Little, who have the vision to see the important role education plays in the health and well-being of seniors, their endowment will continue to provide a great service to the East Texas community by bringing nationally renowned speakers with advice on healthy aging. UTHCT is pleased to announce that The Red and Kim Little Lecture Series has been a resounding success.