Springdale hospital project gets exec

Children's Hospital names Trisha Montague as head of planned Springdale hospital

Trisha Montague
Trisha Montague

Arkansas Children's Hospital has hired someone with a experience in large construction projects to lead its new Springdale hospital.

Trisha Montague takes over as senior vice president of regional services for the hospital Nov. 30, officials announced Wednesday. She comes from Children's Hospital of San Antonio, where she is chief nursing officer and served as executive leader on a $150 million renovation project for inpatient units and services.

Springdale hospital

Arkansas Children’s Hospital’s proposed 225,000-square-foot facility on the northeast corner of South 56th Street and Watkins Avenue near Arvest Ballpark in Springdale will include:

• 24 inpatient beds

• Emergency department and urgent care center with 21 exam rooms

• 30 clinic exam rooms

• Five operating rooms

• Imaging services including MRI, CT and routine X-ray

• Diagnostic services

• Helipad with refueling station

Source: Arkansas Children’s Hospital

Hospital leaders announced in August plans to build a 225,000-square-foot, 24-bed hospital on 37 acres near Arvest Ballpark donated by Gary and Robin George and David and Cathy Evans.

The hospital estimates that construction costs will be $155 million. Dan McFadden, a hospital spokesman, said plans for a fundraising campaign are still in the works.

"I have no doubt this will be successful," Montague said.

Two main points drew her to the position: She worked for Arkansas Children's Hospital from 1997-2001, and she has a previous working relationship with Marcy Doderer, the hospital's president and CEO. Doderer was administrator for the San Antonio Children's Hospital before taking the top job in Arkansas in 2013.

Last month hospital administrators tapped FKP Architects of Houston and Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects of Fayetteville and Little Rock to design the Springdale campus. Montague said the goal is to open in early 2018.

Montague said she looks forward to overseeing the Springdale project. She said coordination and collaboration were key in managing the San Antonio project, which started in 2012, when the Texas hospital went through a complete rebuild.

Arkansas Children's Hospital opened a Lowell clinic in 2007 in collaboration with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. It offers 22 specialties and has more than 50 physicians, many who rotate from Little Rock.

Montague earned her bachelor's degree in nursing from Loretto Heights College in Denver and her master's degree in nursing administration from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. She has earned he credential titled Nurse Executive Advanced-Board Certified and was the assistant administrator for inpatient nursing and later vice president of patient care services at her earlier stint in Arkansas.

Having a nursing background helps her on the administrative side of the health care business, she said.

"People have heard me say 'All children deserve a children's hospital.' I don't just stay that to be corny," she said. "I mean it."

Metro on 10/15/2015

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