Construction has begun on the AWSOM Whole Health Campus, a 120-plus-acre health care development in Bentonville, Ark., following a Sept. 17 groundbreaking by the Alice L. Walton Foundation and Mercy.
According to the AWSOM Whole Health Campus, the groundbreaking signaled the start of construction on the Center for Advanced Specialty Care, the first building on the campus and the anchor of its initial phase. The 709,000-sq.-ft. facility will focus on cardiac care services in affiliation with Cleveland Clinic and is planned to open in 2029. Initial specialties provided by Mercy also are expected to include orthopedics, gastroenterology and neurology.
Located approximately 2 mi. east of downtown Bentonville, the campus is being developed to expand access to specialty and virtual care throughout Northwest Arkansas and the broader Heartland region, according to the project.
Longer-term plans call for a cancer care destination with more than 1.1 million sq. ft. dedicated to cancer care, as well as a new hospital with more than 250 beds and 40 operating rooms in an additional 1 million sq. ft. Together, the planned facilities will create nearly 3 million sq. ft. dedicated to specialty care, according to AWSOM.
CannonDesign is serving as lead architect and EDSA is providing landscape architecture and planning services, according to AWSOM. The initial phase is planned for completion in 2029.
The project is being developed through a collaboration between the Alice L. Walton Foundation and Mercy, with Cleveland Clinic providing expertise for cardiac care services. The organizations say the campus is intended to serve as a regional specialty care hub for Northwest Arkansas and the broader Heartland.
