St. Edward Still Region?s Hospital Giant

St. Edward Mercy Medical Center in Fort Smith again topped the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s list of the area’s largest hospitals.

An affiliate of Sisters of Mercy Health System in St. Louis, the hospital posted a $9.7 million profit for 2000. That was up 5 percent from St. Edward’s $9.2 million profit in 1999.

Combined with fellow Mercy affiliate St. Mary’s Hospital in Rogers, which was No. 2 the last two years, the pair made $16 million in 2000 or 64.8 percent of the combined $24.7 million made by the Top 5 hospitals in the six-county area.

“This is a tribute to the history and tradition of the Sisters of Mercy in this community over many years,” said St. Edward CEO Dr. John D. Hoffman. “It’s also a tribute to the quality of our coworkers we have serving our patients and their families.”

Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville, which is moving from the intersection of North Street and College Avenue to a $90 million facility near the Fulbright Expressway, moved from No. 3 to No. 4 despite the fact its profit was basically unchanged, from $4.9 million in 1999 to $4.8 million in 2000.

Springdale’s Northwest Medical Center — which sold in April as part of a $2.4 billion buyout of Quorum Health Group Inc. by Triad Health Partner’s Inc. of Dallas, Texas — saw its net income drop from $2.2 million to $590,285. The hospital also has a number of capital projects underway.

Hoffman said St. Edward is committed to its strategic plan of focusing on worker retention, delivering quality medical care and exceeding the expectations of patients and their families.

“We’re also committed to our plan to expand our facility to meet the needs that were expressed by members of the community to our medical staff,” Hoffman said.

St. Edward is spending $70 million to build three new outpatient centers of excellence, which spokesman Chip Paris called the hospital’s “largest example of [its] reinvestment in the community.” The project, expected to be completed next year, will add 320,000 SF to the hospital’s existing 410,000 SF. It includes a new women’s center, heart center and outpatient center.

The project also includes 100,000 SF of new physician office space.