Mercy Breaks Ground On Facility

Dr. Stephen Goss, left, fist-bumps Cooper Elementary School students who posed Thursday for a photo with Scott Street, Mercy Health of Northwest Arkansas president and CEO, during the groundbreaking for the Shewmaker Family Campus in Bella Vista.
Dr. Stephen Goss, left, fist-bumps Cooper Elementary School students who posed Thursday for a photo with Scott Street, Mercy Health of Northwest Arkansas president and CEO, during the groundbreaking for the Shewmaker Family Campus in Bella Vista.

BELLA VISTA — Officials broke ground Thursday for Mercy Bella Vista — a 30,000-square-foot facility helped along by a $1.5 million donation from an area family.

Mercy recognized the Shewmaker family’s generosity by naming the facility the Shewmaker Family Campus.

At A Glance

Mercy Plans

The new Bella Vista facility is part of Mercy’s plan unveiled in September 2011. In all, Mercy has plans to spend an estimated $90 million in capital projects and improvement over the next seven years in Northwest Arkansas.

Source: Mercy Health System

“My dad believed when you’re able, you should give back to the community,” said Dan Shewmaker, son of the late Jack Shewmaker.

Melba Shewmaker, Jack’s wife, joined Scott Street, Mercy Health System of Northwest Arkansas president and chief executive officer, and more than 100 other people at Thursday’s event.

Jack Shewmaker died in 2010. He retired from Walmart in 1988, but was active on the Walmart board for years after that.

His family owns and operates Jac’s Ranch, one of the largest cattle operations in Northwest Arkansas, breeding and showing registered black angus.

“You’ve helped us realize a vision of health care,” Street told the Shewmaker family Thursday.

Dr. Stephen Goss said Bella Vista has become quite a community over the years, and deserves a health care facility like Mercy Bella Vista.

Plans for the clinic at the intersection of Dartmoor and Lambeth roads, across from Cooper Elementary School, call for a facility featuring high-tech imaging, primary care, internal medicine, pediatrics, urgent care, a pharmacy drive-through and more. The center is scheduled to open in fall 2013.

“It’s a comprehensive center right here in Bella Vista,” Goss said.

Mayor Frank Anderson said the facility will benefit Bella Vista by bringing health facilities closer to the city’s population base.

Providers at the recently opened primary care clinic at Sugar Creek Center and Mercy Heart and Vascular Center off Bella Vista Way across from Sugar Creek Center will move to the new facility, said Martine Downs Pollard, communications director. The clinic on Lancashire Boulevard near Town Center will likely remain in operation, though a decision has yet to be made. Mercy has been in Bella Vista for more than 20 years, according to a news release.

Mercy Bella Vista will be on Dartmoor Drive and Lambeth Road, west of Cooper Elementary School.

Upcoming Events