ROGERS, Ark. — On Sept. 24 the Alice L. Walton Foundation, Mercy Hospital, and the Heartland Whole Health Institute announced plans to expand healthcare and improve health outcomes in Northwest Arkansas.
The 30-year, $700 million investment will be split evenly between Mercy and the Alice L. Walton foundation.
“I'm not aware of anything like this anywhere else in the country in terms of who's coming together, what our vision is, and what our goals are, in terms of really delivering or creating a new model of care that currently doesn't exist,” Mercy Arkansas Communities President Ryan Gehring said.
According to the press release, Mercy will spend $350 million to build a new cardiac care center of excellence on Mercy’s Campus in Rogers, as well hire new physicians and staff.
The cardiac center is expected to be a premier destination for residents seeking care.
The Alice L. Walton foundation will spend its $350 million on building a new specialty care outpatient center in Bentonville, as well as help retain doctors in the region.
In addition, the press release said the Cleveland Clinic will provide on-site training and expertise on the newest developments in cardiovascular procedures.
Gehring added that the investments are being made so that residents in the area do not have to leave Northwest Arkansas to access high-quality cardiovascular care.
“We really intend on this becoming a regional destination center for care,” Gehring said. “As you may have heard in previous studies that came out, this region is actually seeing or experiencing close to a billion dollars in annual loss in clinical revenue from patients who are leaving our community. So we intend to reverse that trend.”
Gehring said these investments are also meant to provide a holistic approach to healing. He added they are looking to address the entire needs of patients and the healthiness of a population, before the need to consider coming into a hospital or clinical setting.
Although the initial investments are geared towards Northwest Arkansas, Gehring said it’s effects will be felt elsewhere soon enough.
“The learnings that we take from this, we will spread that across the ministry,” Gehring said. “So our other programs in Fort Smith and Joplin and Springfield, Missouri, we hope to elevate all those programs through this initiative as well.”
Gehring added that the master facility planning process for the new center in Rogers will begin soon.
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