ACH Leader Has Unique View of Springdale Campus

Marcy Doderer is at an exciting period of her career, but she is also respectful of her place in the next chapter of pediatric health care in Arkansas.

“Not many people in their career have the opportunity to build a hospital from the ground up,” she said. “To bring a hospital to a community that currently doesn’t have that level of service, and at the same time be building a health system out of a single hospital, is incredibly humbling.”

Doderer, president and CEO of Arkansas Children’s Hospital, announced Aug. 7 that the Little Rock-based health care organization is planning to build a 225,000-SF pediatric hospital in Springdale.

She shared the news at the eighth annual Color of Hope Charity Gala, an ACH fundraiser, at the John Q. Hammons Center in Rogers.

But while acknowledging the magnitude of the work on a professional level, Doderer said it is also personally fulfilling because of her experience as the mother of two daughters, one of whom is a medically complex child.

Katie Doderer, 17, has a very rare medical condition known as congenital central hypoventilation syndrome, a genetic mutation of the central nervous system that affects breathing. Only about 1,000 individuals with the condition have been identified, and Doderer is ventilator dependent.

Her parents have made countless trips to a children’s hospital in Chicago that specializes in caring for children with similar breathing disorders. Before those trips originated from Little Rock (Doderer was hired in June 2013 by ACH), they started in San Antonio, where Doderer was previously the top administrator at Christus Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital.

At ACH, which began as the Arkansas Children’s Home Society in February 1912, Doderer leads the largest pediatric hospital in the state and the sixth largest in the country. By adding a second hospital in one of the country’s fastest growing areas, she hopes it will help families who face similar travel and financial hardships. And not just in Northwest Arkansas, but also for residents in surrounding states.

“The travel for health care is inconvenient at best, and impossible at times for families,” she acknowledged. “Knowing that, as a mom, I can help bring something to [Northwest Arkansas] that other mothers will be really able to appreciate and maybe make their families better. … I can’t think of a better thing to be doing.”

 

The Best Solution

A new pediatric hospital in Springdale will be a key part of an ACH strategy that will change the landscape of pediatric health care in Arkansas.

 “We have looked hard at Northwest Arkansas,” Doderer said. “We’ve met with physicians, community leaders and families to understand the needs of Northwest Arkansas, and we’ve come to the conclusion that creating a destination for children’s health care, including an actual pediatric hospital, is the best solution for this part of the state.”

The proposed campus will sit west of Interstate 49, between Don Tyson Parkway and Arkansas Highway 412, at the northeast corner of South 56th Street and Watkins Avenue.

The land, situated catty-corner from Arvest Ballpark, was donated by the families of Gary and Robin George and David and Cathy (George) Evans.

“I have said ‘thank you’ to those families probably 100 times, and those words almost ring hollow given the significance of the gift,” Doderer said. “It’s prime land, it’s a great location, and their generosity is really beyond the pale.”

Cathy Evans and Gary George are the grandchildren of C.L. George, founder of Springdale-based poultry company George’s Inc., where Gary George is presently chairman.

“This is significant to me because it’s kids,” he said. “There’s a lot of things in life, but kids are the most important thing that we have.”

David Evans is president and CEO of Frez-N-Stor, a quick-freeze facility in Springdale that serves Northwest Arkansas’ poultry industry.

“I have known Gary and Cathy since I was 6,” he said. “And this land has been in their family for generations. They were entrusted to be good stewards of it, and that is exactly what’s happened.”

The gift holds a special significance for both families, as they’ve each had children and grandchildren treated at ACH in the past for life-threatening ailments.

Cathy and David Evans’ daughter has been treated at ACH for a heart condition, and their grandson has been treated for a urological complication.

In 1982, Robin and Gary George’s son Charles — now the co-CEO of George’s along with twin brother Carl — went into heart failure at only two weeks old. He was flown to ACH, where he received a cutting-edge procedure to repair his heart. In 2004, their 2-year-old grandson received life-saving care at ACH after contracting an E. coli infection.

“Once you’ve needed ACH, you realize the impact it has on the children of Arkansas,” Gary George said. “My sister and I know firsthand how wonderful the physicians and staff are at ACH. Having access to that kind of world-class care right here in Springdale will be a game changer for so many families.”

Doderer said the donated land has not been formally appraised because the actual configuration is dependent on the initial site development. The donated parcel is actually just more than 49 acres, and ACH officials are planning for a 37-acre campus.

“We want them to have plenty of room,” Gary George said. “If it comes out after the [design] that they need a little more, it’s there. And they know that.”

The goal, Doderer said, is to have the hospital open for business by the beginning of 2018, depending on fundraising. ACH officials say the project represents an estimated investment of $184 million over the next five years. That includes construction, staffing and equipment.

“We have not started an active capital campaign yet, but we have worked internally, specifically with our board, to figure out the best way to fund this project to ensure that it moves forward at a steady pace,” Doderer said, adding that a target number for the campaign would be in the neighborhood of $70 million.

Design firms, engineers and contractors should all be hired in the coming weeks, with the hope that the construction will begin in the spring.

The hospital will include 24 inpatient beds, anchored by an emergency department/urgent care center, with full operative capabilities.

It will include 30 clinic examination rooms, five operating rooms and a helipad. It will not, however, have an intensive care unit, due to the low number of children in the state who ultimately require that level of service.

“Having one, centralized pediatric ICU in Little Rock still makes the most sense to ensure the highest quality,” Doderer said.

 

Statewide Network

The Springdale campus will be part of a larger effort to improve access to pediatric  health care. ACH took the initial step earlier this summer when it dedicated two new medical transport helicopters, replacing two older models that had been in service since 2002.

ACH began its helicopter service 30 years ago, and transports about 1,100 patients by helicopter each year.

Announcements on additional services will be made in the coming months.

“Arkansas Children’s Hospital sees the need to create and build a statewide network of services to reach all children of Arkansas,” Doderer said. “What that means is that we intend to blanket the state with a level of services so that kids get the care they need, closer to home, when that is possible.”

As Northwest Arkansas’ population has boomed in recent years, so has the demand for pediatric care in multiple disciplines.

“Our area is to the point now where this hospital campus is really what we need,” said Robin George, who is on the board of directors of the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Foundation, the hospital’s private fundraising arm.

ACH responded in 2007 when it established a regional clinic called the Centers for Children in Lowell, a collaboration with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Last year, more than 21,000 children were treated at the clinic, and more than 450 were transported to ACH in Little Rock via helicopters and ambulances.

With a hospital in Northwest Arkansas, where the population recently eclipsed 500,000 and it is estimated that the pediatric population is growing up to three times faster than other areas of the state, officials say 70 percent of Northwest Arkansas residents will be able to reach ACH services in 30 minutes or less.

“There is a great need for improved, expanded services for children in Northwest Arkansas,” said Fred Scarborough, chief development officer at ACH and the president of the foundation. “The gift from these two families accelerates the plan for expansion of services.”