Alice Walton plans Bentonville hospital and cancer center
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A rendering shows the future health care campus. Image: Courtesy of Alice L. Walton Foundation
Walmart heir Alice Walton announced Thursday that her planned Bentonville health care campus will include a hospital and a "world-class" cancer center.
Why it matters: Walton's vision is for the 120-acre AWSOM Whole Health Campus to be a game changer not only for Northwest Arkansas but for the state and the broader Heartland.
What they're saying: "I see innovation, technology and research coming together to improve lives and address the critical issue of providing access for rural communities throughout the state and the region," she told a crowd at the event.
Zoom in: The campus will offer specialty care services in orthopedics and neurology as well as the previously announced cardiac care at a 700,000-square-foot building, Walton said. A news release also lists gastroenterology.
- Additionally, a 1 million-square-foot hospital will have approximately 250 beds and 40 operating rooms. A 1.1 million-square-foot cancer center will also be built on the campus.
The latest: Springdale-based Tyson Foods and the Tyson Family Foundation will contribute $50 million to support the campus, Tyson Foods board chair John H. Tyson announced at the event.
The big picture: The campus is a major step toward ramping up health care services in the region, which has been a coordinated effort since at least 2019. A report found the region was missing out on nearly $1 billion a year in the health care economy and didn't have enough specialty care services to serve its growing population, let alone attract people from outside NWA for care.
- Walton noted the campus has been in the works for seven years.
- The region has seen a push toward more health care education, residency slots for doctors and expansions like those at Arkansas Children's Northwest, Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas, Highlands Oncology and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Context: The campus is a culmination of Walton's wellness ventures that she says are aimed at transforming American health care into a system that treats the patient as a whole person.
- Her medical school, the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, welcomed its first students last year, and her health care nonprofit, the Heartland Whole Health Institute, is up and running.
Zoom out: The Alice L. Walton Foundation, Mercy and Heartland Whole Health Institute have a 30-year agreement that includes $350 million from Mercy and another $350 million from the Alice L. Walton Foundation to build new facilities and recruit doctors. The organizations also have a 10-year agreement with Cleveland Clinic.
- Mercy Health System will pursue a Level 2 trauma center designation and eventually a Level 1 designation for its Rogers hospital, Mercy president and CEO Steve Mackin said at the event.
- A Level 1 designation is the highest level of emergency care capability, and NWA has no hospitals of that level. Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville is the region's only Level 2 trauma center and is working on becoming a Level 1. Mercy's Rogers hospital is a Level 3.
What's next: Construction has started on the campus' Center for Advanced Specialty Care, which is planned to open in 2029, according to a news release.