Arkansas Children’s Northwest executive Diana McDaniel departs to launch consulting firm

A key healthcare executive at Arkansas Children’s Northwest has left the organization to launch a healthcare consulting company in Northwest Arkansas.

Diana McDaniel of Springdale said Prosper Med will launch this month. Some of the firm’s services will include workforce planning and recruitment for providers and practice management.

“Prosper Med’s purpose is to fill the gap in scaling up clinical operations to meet the growing demands of the region,” McDaniel said. “I am excited about the opportunity this creates for the expanding medical community and furthering my contributions to the industry.”

She said the firm will also take on projects from health systems nationwide.”

McDaniel has two decades of experience in the healthcare industry. She worked for Arkansas Children’s for 12 years in progressive leadership roles. In 2017, the Little Rock-based pediatric healthcare organization appointed her to be vice president of operations for the Springdale hospital, which opened in February 2018. It is the region’s first and only pediatric hospital.

McDaniel completed her undergraduate degree in international relations at the University of Arkansas in 2005 and went on to complete a Master of Public Administration at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2007. She became a Fellow of the American College of Medical Practice Executives, Medical Group Management Association in 2012.

McDaniel said she’s in the process of securing an office suite and will also have staff who work remotely.

When asked about McDaniel’s departure and a possible replacement for the position, an Arkansas Children’s spokeswoman said, “Arkansas Children’s is fortunate to have a strong internal leadership team and will not be replacing the position.”

In August, Arkansas Children’s announced a $25 million donation, the largest gift in its history, from Fayetteville nonprofit Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation.

The money, spread over five years, will specifically impact Northwest Arkansas. Half of the donation will support expansion efforts, including building a new Springdale hospital wing. The remaining $12.5 million will create an endowment to benefit Arkansas Children’s Northwest operations in perpetuity.

In May this year, Arkansas Children’s announced details of a $318 million expansion to increase child healthcare in Arkansas. That includes the expansion of its two hospitals (Little Rock and Springdale) to make its services more accessible, with an eye on Northwest Arkansas’ accelerated growth.

Arkansas Children’s Northwest opened in 2018 with a commitment that the hospital would expand to meet the needs of the rapidly growing region.

Currently, Arkansas Children’s Northwest operates a 24-bed inpatient unit, a surgical unit with five operating rooms, outpatient clinics offering over 20 subspecialties, diagnostic services, imaging capabilities, occupational therapy services and the region’s only pediatric emergency department, equipped with 30 exam rooms.