Alice L. Walton Foundation and Mercy broke ground Sept. 17 on the AWSOM Whole Health Campus, a major investment in specialty care in Northwest Arkansas.
The more than 120-acre campus in Bentonville will include nearly 3 million square feet for cardiac care, cancer treatment and other specialty services, bringing advanced medicine together with an integrated whole-person approach to care.
“I see innovation, technology and research coming together to improve lives and address the critical issue of providing access for rural communities throughout the state and the region,” Alice Walton said at the groundbreaking.
Construction is underway on the 709,000-square-foot Center for Advanced Specialty Care, the campus’ first building. The facility is expected to open in 2029 and will focus on cardiac care through an affiliation with Cleveland Clinic. Orthopedics, gastroenterology and neurology will also be among the initial specialties offered.
Plans include more than 1.1 million square feet for cancer care and a new hospital with more than 250 beds and 40 operating rooms. The campus will align with the continued expansion of Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas in Rogers.
The groundbreaking also included the announcement of a combined $50 million charitable pledge from the Tyson Family Foundation and Tyson Foods.
The campus directly addresses needs identified in Northwest Arkansas Healthcare: Assessment, Economic Impact and Vision for the Future, a regional assessment commissioned by the Northwest Arkansas Council in 2019.
The report found that Northwest Arkansas needed more specialty care, medical training and research. It estimated that $950 million left the region each year as residents traveled elsewhere for care.
“Our 2019 report showed that Northwest Arkansas needed more specialty care, greater medical training capacity and a stronger workforce pipeline,” said Nelson Peacock, president and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council.
Regional leaders responded by creating the Council’s Health Care Transformation Division, bringing together health systems, higher education, philanthropy and industry around a shared regional strategy.
Walton said the campus has been in development for seven years. It follows the establishment of Heartland Whole Health Institute and the opening of Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, which welcomed its first class in 2025.
A follow-up report released in 2024 showed that annual patient outmigration had fallen to $695 million, a $255 million improvement from the 2018 estimate.
That progress reflects investments across Northwest Arkansas. Washington Regional, UAMS, Freeman Health System, Arkansas Children’s, and other providers and educators are expanding clinical services, medical training and research throughout the region.
The 2024 report also established the next phase of the region’s work: expanding specialty care and graduate medical education, strengthening the workforce, advancing value-based care and growing research and innovation. The Health Care Transformation Division is coordinating the regional work behind those priorities.
“Alice Walton’s vision and extraordinary commitment have fundamentally changed the trajectory of health care in Northwest Arkansas,” Peacock said. “The work now is to make sure the region has the workforce, training capacity and partnerships needed to realize the full potential of these investments.”
The AWSOM Whole Health Campus represents significant progress toward the vision established in 2019: giving more residents access to advanced care close to home while establishing Northwest Arkansas as a destination for health care.
Learn more about the campus: awsomwholehealth.org
Learn more about the Council’s health care work: nwacouncil.org/health-care
