Mercy Northwest Arkansas officials recently announced plans to invest nearly a quarter-billion dollars on capital projects and equipment over the next five years. The expansion in healthcare facilities and services comes with the creation of 1,000 new healthcare jobs.
Among expansion plans in the early stages are:
- A new patient tower that will take Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas from 200 beds to 300-plus beds. Construction will accommodate future inpatient growth, with the goal of a total of 360 beds.
- Addition of multiple primary care and specialty clinics in Benton County and north Washington County.
- Creation and recruitment of new healthcare jobs, including physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses and other healthcare co-workers.
- Enhancements to the hospital’s already robust areas of specialty care, including the heart and vascular center and women’s and children’s services.
- Establishment of a University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences community internal medicine residency program in partnership with the Veterans Health Care System of the Ozarks in Fayetteville. The program will provide training to eight doctors the first year, growing to 24 doctors in three years.
Already underway are several additions: 1) a hybrid cardiac catheterization lab that provides technology for advanced heart procedures not currently being performed in the region, 2) an interim renovation of the Level IIIA Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to better serve their smallest patients, 3) renovation of the 7th floor to provide the addition of 24 much needed inpatient beds and 4 a 500-space parking lot expansion.
Led by input from the community, a core team of Mercy leaders and the Mercy Northwest Arkansas board of directors developed plans for the expansion by studying population trends, community health outcomes and needs and access to care.
Source: www.mercy.net.
