Arkansas Children’s will further transform child health in northwest Arkansas through a $25 million investment from the Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation, Inc. In recognition of this gift – the largest in Arkansas Children’s history – the Arkansas Children’s Northwest campus will be named the Pat Walker Campus.
Of the generous $25 million donation, $12.5 million will support expansion efforts, including an addition to the Springdale hospital. The remaining $12.5 million will create an endowment — benefiting ACNW in perpetuity and helping meet the needs of children in the region for generations to come.
In May, Arkansas Children’s announced the expansion at its two hospitals as part of its commitment to make its services more accessible for all Arkansas children, with an eye on Northwest Arkansas’ accelerated growth.
Planning and engineering teams are finalizing proposals for the enhancements, but estimate 265,000 new square feet of facilities and an additional renovation that spans more than 170,000 square feet. The project team includes Polk Stanley Wilcox, Cromwell and Nabholz.
Arkansas Children’s Northwest opened in 2018, with a commitment that the hospital would expand to meet the needs of this rapidly growing region. The expansion’s primary focus areas are orthopedics, urology, gastroenterology and ear, nose and throat. These efforts will expand the acuity of services provided and the complexity of surgeries performed. The four-story addition will connect to the current floors of the hospital, and the project will add inpatient beds, operating rooms and a new endoscopy suite. The plan also calls for additional outpatient clinic space in the adjacent Children’s Center for Health & Wellness, where patients currently attend primary care appointments.
Detailed schematics will be shared in the fall.
