Alice L. Walton Foundation and Mercy break ground on Arkansas health campus

The Alice L. Walton Foundation and Mercy have broken ground on the AWSOM Whole Health Campus in Bentonville, Arkansas. Spanning more than 120 acres, the development aims to provide expanded specialty services to Northwest Arkansas and the surrounding Heartland region, specifically targeting the needs of rural communities.

Construction has commenced on the first phase, a 709,000-square-foot Center for Advanced Specialty Care. Scheduled to open in 2029, this initial facility will offer cardiac services through an affiliation with the Cleveland Clinic, alongside orthopedics, gastroenterology, and neurology. The broader campus plans include 1.1 million square feet of cancer treatment facilities and a hospital featuring over 250 beds and 40 operating rooms. Upon completion, the site is expected to encompass nearly 3 million square feet of specialty care facilities.

The project is supported by a $50 million charitable pledge from the Tyson Family Foundation and Tyson Foods. The development addresses regional needs identified in a 2019 assessment, which noted that residents were traveling outside the area for specialized care, resulting in an estimated $950 million annual economic loss to the region.