Children's hospital expansion on track to open in fall

• The Springdale hospital not only sees patients from the growing NWA region, but surrounding rural areas like eastern Oklahoma, Doderer said.

The big picture: The expansion includes 50,000 square feet of new space and 23,000 square feet of renovated space. It will offer expanded services in areas like ENT (ears, nose and throat), neurology, pulmonary, cardiology and gastrointestinal areas of medicine.

• New operating rooms and 14 additional inpatient beds are also part of the work, bringing the total to 40.
• The newly expanded infusion center, where children receive chemotherapy, opened in January.

What they're saying: Arkansas Children's, which is also expanding its Little Rock hospital, is recruiting doctors and other professionals, but the competition for the pediatric workforce is tight, Doderer said.

• Children's will hire about 500 new staff across both hospitals within two years of opening the full expansions, spokesperson Hilary DeMillo told Axios in an email.
• Doderer estimated the Springdale campus will need about 50 more health care providers, and DeMillo said Springdale staff could grow as much as 70%.

What's next: This is not the last expansion of Arkansas Children's Northwest, Doderer said. Arkansas Children's is already considering further expansion needs.