Deanna Hopson, MD

Dr. Deanna Hopson, M.D., grew up in Little Rock and lived in El Dorado as a toddler. She still remembers driving up to Warner Brown Hospital to pick up her mother and new baby sister in 1964. In her school years, she was active in the marching band and choir at Cloverdale Jr High and McClellan High School, taking as many science classes as possible. Dr. Hopson received her B.S. in Chemistry from UCA in 1984 and began her studies at UAMS the following fall. During her senior year of medical school, she met her future husband, Rodney Hopson, while in Fayetteville for an Ophthalmology rotation.

The month of May 1988 was a whirlwind; both she and Rodney received their degrees and got married. The couple moved to Fort Smith, AR, for her Residency in Family Medicine at the AHEC, where their first daughter was born. Their son was born while they lived in Hot Springs, during which Dr. Hopson worked in the ER in Nashville, AR, and occasionally at a Family Medicine clinic in Hot Springs. In 1995, the family moved to El Dorado for Rodney’s job.

Dr. Hopson first worked with Patti Rivers, APN, at the Stephens Community Clinic from 1996-1997. During those years, the last two additions to the Hopson family, two daughters, were born. Patti worked with an exhausted, nauseated partner during that time. In October 1997, Dr. Hopson began working as a faculty member at the El Dorado AHEC, a position she held until 2004 when she started working full-time at the Interfaith Clinic. Patti joined her there in 2006, and they have been colleagues ever since. Rodney and Dr. Hopson are nearing the empty nest stage and are active with their church family at Marrable Hill Chapel.

When Dr. Hopson and Patti first approached Pete Atkinson about working at SAMA, they were excited to hear about the team concept he was implementing. They have been part of the Green Team since May 2014 and feel blessed to work with such a wonderful group of people.