Inside Bentonville's new public wellness space
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Outside the Heartland Whole Health Institute. Photo: Alex Golden/Axios
Walmart heir Alice Walton's health care advocacy nonprofit now has an 85,000-square-foot home open to the public with the goal of connecting art and wellness — right between her art museum and future medical school.
Why it matters: Heartland Whole Health Institute's mission is to improve access to health care and decrease health care costs, interim executive director Claude Pirtle told Axios.
- The new building is not only where the staff will work but where much of the nonprofit's outreach and educational efforts will take place.
State of play: The three-story building's first floor is open to the public with artwork, a café, rentable event space and outdoor lawn and courtyard areas. The institute will host wellness-focused events like yoga, tai chi and nutrition counseling, Pirtle said.
- A meditation room on the second floor is also for public use.
The intrigue: The organization's advocacy work includes promoting value-based care, which creates a financial incentive for health care professionals for better patient outcomes. Value-based care puts more of an emphasis on preventative care like nutrition and lifestyle rather than reactive care to illness, Pirtle said.
- Value-based systems tie payment for health care services to results like quality and equity, according to the American Medical Association.
What they're saying: "I want everybody to come see this," Walton said last week during a media event. "I want people when they come to Crystal Bridges — come on up the hill. We will always have exhibitions going here as well. This area will always be open to the public, and the exhibitions here will focus on art and healing and the integration of those things."
The big picture: The Whole Health Institute is one of several related projects, all with the goal of transforming health care and increasing access to art and wellness opportunities in the heartland.
- The Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, a four-year medical school, opens in July in Bentonville. Students will be taught a "whole health" model that focuses on overall well-being, including emotional, mental and physical health, with an emphasis on preventative care and social determinants of health.
- The Alice L. Walton Foundation also recently announced it will build health care facilities — starting with cardiac services — on a 100-acre campus in Bentonville.
- Crystal Bridges is also undergoing a major expansion, largely to incorporate more community-oriented spaces.
Zoom in: The building itself "embodies the core elements of whole health," architect Marlon Blackwell said. "It's surrounded by nature and shaped by nature."
- It was designed with the Ozarks in mind and meant to "flow."
- You won't find many right angles but you will encounter a winding staircase, lots of natural light, limestone floors and giraffe-stone walls.
