J.B. Hunt Transport Services, a Fortune 500 transportation outfit, is giving $5 million to the ongoing Arkansas Children's Northwest construction project, with the hope of bringing expert pediatric care closer to home for more than 200,000 children.
In August 2015, Arkansas Children's Hospital announced plans to build a freestanding children's hospital in Springdale, Arkansas on land donated by Robin and Gary George, Cathy and David Evans, and their families.
Current plans for Arkansas Children's Northwest include a 233,613 square foot, state-of-the-art facility with 24 inpatient beds, 30 emergency department and urgent care exam rooms, 30 clinic exam rooms, five operating rooms and diagnostic services. The 37-acre campus will also include walking trails, gardens, and a helipad and refueling station.
The hospital, scheduled to open in January 2018, is being designed by Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects of Fayetteville and Little Rock, Arkansas, and FKP Architects of Houston, Texas. The campus is part of the facility's plan to improve the health of children in Arkansas by expanding access to pediatric services across the state.
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Healthcare construction nationwide is booming. As of November 2015, Revista, which provides data on medical real estate, said there were $97 billion in projects for new hospitals, expansions and off-campus clinics and medical offices that were underway.
The Annapolis-based company, which began tracking medical construction in 2014, said more than 1,300 projects have started in the past year or remain in the planning stages.
John Roberts, president and CEO of J.B. Hunt, said in a statement that the construction of a children's hospital in Arkansas "is a historic and necessary next step for the advancement of pediatric healthcare in the region."
To date, the hospital is the only pediatric medical center in Arkansas, and one of the largest in the United States serving children from birth to age 21.
Twitter: @JELagasse