SPRINGDALE -- Mercy Northwest Arkansas plans to build a "multi-specialty medical campus" in western Springdale, the health system announced this week.
The system earlier this month bought almost 31 acres of mostly undeveloped land just off the southwest intersection of Interstate 49 and Elm Springs Road for $13.6 million, according to Washington County records. The property's western border is 48th Street and Wal-Mart is across Elm Springs Road.
Mercy bought the property from Anders Springdale which had owned it since 2003. Anders bought the land in 2003 for $3.2 million from Hewitt Farms.
The land is ideal based on its location next to major thoroughfares and the community's needs and was chosen after two years of study, a statement from the system said.
The exact size and services of the new facility are still up in the air, said Jennifer Cook, spokeswoman.
"Now that the site has been acquired, they'll begin the process of kind of roughing out some plans, and then we're going to take those to community forums in Springdale and stakeholders," to get a more detailed picture about the area's needs, she said.
The clinic would expand the system's footprint in Washington County. At the moment it has only one doctor in central Springdale, its southernmost location.
Steve Goss, Mercy Clinic president, said in April the Springdale doctor would likely anchor a new facility in the city, though he gave few clues on its location at that time. The clinic would be similar to the 30,000-square-foot multi-specialty clinic Mercy opened in Bella Vista in 2013 and could also have a free standing emergency room, he said.
The clinic was part of a $247 million expansion plan Mercy unveiled last spring that could add 1,000 jobs over the next five years throughout the region, including an expansion to the main hospital in Rogers. Northwest Health and Washington Regional Medical Center have also been adding clinics and physicians specializing in neuroscience, cardiology and other fields.
NW News on 09/30/2016