Dr. Michelle Krause has been named CEO of UAMS Medical Center in Little Rock and vice chancellor for UAMS Health, the statewide system that encompasses all of UAMS' clinical enterprises.
Krause is now responsible for UAMS Health’s 535-bed hospital, outpatient clinics in central Arkansas, digital health services and clinics at eight regional campuses across the state. She also serves as chair of the board of directors of the Baptist Health-UAMS Accountable Care Alliance and is a professor in the UAMS College of Medicine.
Krause joined UAMS in 2002 and has served in several administrative roles, including ambulatory medical director and vice chair for Clinical Programs of the Department of Internal Medicine. She was named director of the Integrated Medicine Service Line in 2015. Last April, she was named chief clinical officer.
"Her clinical expertise, administrative experience and institutional knowledge make her the ideal leader for our statewide health system," UAMS Chancellor Dr. Cam Patterson said in a news release. "She is well versed on the health care needs across Arkansas."
Krause received her medical degree from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and completed her internal medicine residency at the University of North Carolina. She completed fellowships in nephrology and research nephrology at the University of North Carolina and earned her master’s in public health in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health.
Succeeding Krause as chief clinical officer is Dr. Ahmed Abuabdou, an associate professor of medicine who previously served as associate chief medical officer. He also leads the UAMS Physician Advisor Group.
Abuabdou has been with UAMS since 2012. He completed medical school at Gulf Medical College in the United Arab Emirates, earning Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees. He completed an internal medicine residency at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown, Ohio, and then completed a fellowship in blood banking and transfusion medicine at UAMS.
Nationally, Abuabdou serves as the vice president of operations for the American College of Physician Advisors.
"We are fortunate to have two established leaders from within UAMS to step into these roles," Patterson said. "Their leadership and perspectives will be particularly valuable in our efforts to achieve our strategic goals to make Arkansas a healthier state and grow our national reputation for excellence."
