Arkansas Childrens Celebrates Topping Out of NWA Campus

Northwest Arkansas

by Paul Gatling ([email protected]) September 28, 2016 4:52 pm 182 views 

Little Rock-based healthcare organization Arkansas Children’s Hospital celebrated the “topping out” Wednesday (Sept. 28) of its Arkansas Children’s Northwest campus in Springdale.

ACH board members and staff welcomed donors and volunteers to the construction site between Don Tyson Parkway and Highway 412, across from Arvest Ballpark. A beam painted white and covered in signatures from supporters was raised into place on the steel super structure.

In construction, the “topping out” of a building is a builder’s rite and a long-standing tradition. The beam is the tallest beam that will be placed on the project.

The project is being built on 37 acres and consists of a 233,613-SF hospital that will include:

  • 24 inpatient beds to care for children requiring overnight stays
  • 24-hour pediatric emergency department
  • Pediatric surgery unit with five operating rooms
  • An outpatient clinic with 30 exam rooms supporting more than 20 subspecialty areas and a general pediatric clinic
  • A full range of ancillary and diagnostic services, child-life and pastoral care
  • Outdoor gardens, nature trails and interactive features designed for children
  • A helipad and refueling station supporting Angel One, one of the nation’s leading pediatric intensive care transport services with more than 2,000 transports annually.

Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects of Fayetteville and Little Rock and FKP Architects of Houston are the designers and Nabholz Construction in Rogers is the general contractor for the project, which is expected to be complete in January 2018.

“A children’s hospital in Northwest Arkansas has been a dream of this community for more than a decade,” said Barbara Tyson, who spoke at the event on behalf of Tyson Foods and the Tyson family, two key supporters of the project. “My family and I firmly believe Arkansas Children’s Northwest will vastly improve the health of the children who live in this region. And we are proud to invest in the future of the children of Northwest Arkansas.”

The project is expected to cost approximately $428 million in construction, technology, equipment and operating expanses over the next five years.

In August, ACH officials went public with a $70 million fundraising campaign to help support the project.