SPRINGDALE -- Officials took another step Tuesday toward a children's hospital in Northwest Arkansas.
Aldermen at Tuesday's City Council meeting approved rezoning land for a Springdale campus of Arkansas Children's Hospital from agricultural district to institutional district.
Web Watch
To learn more about Arkansas Children’s Hospital, go to archildrens.org.
The Planning Commission approved and forwarded the rezoning change to City Council at the commission's meeting Feb. 2. Commissioners also approved the development plan for the hospital at the Feb. 2 meeting.
Hospital leaders in August announced plans to build a 225,000-square-foot, 24-bed hospital near Arvest Ballpark on land donated by Gary and Robin George and David and Cathy Evans. The estimated construction cost is about $165 million, Trisha Montague, senior vice president of regional services for Arkansas Children's Hospital, has said.
Hospital officials hope to start preparing the site in March or April, Montague has said.
The hospital will sit within the boundaries of the Ballpark/Southwest Springdale District Overlay, which aldermen approved in February 2015. The borders of the district overlay are Sunset Avenue to the north, Interstate 49 to the east, North Maestri Road or the city boundary to the west and 660 feet south of Don Tyson Parkway for the southern border.
All of the hospital's plans are in compliance with the district overlay, said Mayor Doug Sprouse.
Sprouse explained people will need services a convenient distance from the hospital. He said he thinks there will be an increase in offerings, such as restaurants and hotels, around the ballpark.
There is a large need in Northwest Arkansas for medical care close to home for families and children, Montague said. Not having a children's hospital is "a void in the health care system in Northwest Arkansas," Patsy Christie, city director of planning and community development, has said.
The plan for the hospital shows a campus of about 36 acres on the northeast corner of the Watkins Avenue and South 56th Street intersection. Interstate 49 borders the property's east side.
The location has good access to I-49, Montague has said. She has also said the site is centrally located in Northwest Arkansas.
The building will have five floors, with entry at ground level and no basement, according to Montague. Officials are working to decide on materials that will be used for the exterior of the building, but there will be a lot of glass.
A small road would extend north from Watkins Avenue along the east side of the hospital building, while another small road would extend east from South 56th Street north of the building. The plan also shows two ponds and a walking trail that would wind through the property.
The building is to have five operating rooms, 30 clinical exam rooms, an emergency department and urgent care center with 21 exam rooms, a helipad and refueling station, and imaging and diagnostic services.
The most critical cases will still need to be transferred to Little Rock, and the Springdale site wouldn't include a neonatal intensive care unit.
A fire access road would lead to the south side of the hospital, while a loading dock would be on the southeast side of the building. The majority of the parking lot space would be just north of the building.
The hospital is tentatively scheduled to open in early 2018, Marcy Doderer, Arkansas Children's Hospital CEO, has said.
It would cost about $245 million to operate for the first five years, according to an email from Hilary DeMillo, a hospital spokeswoman.
Arkansas Children's Hospital Foundation, the fundraising arm for the hospital, has a goal to raise $70 million for the project, Montague has said.
They are raising money for the project and will make announcements about gifts when families and organizations are ready, according to Montague.
NW News on 02/10/2016