Alice Walton, Mercy to invest $700 million in health care; build NWA cardiac, outpatient centers

The Alice L. Walton Foundation, Mercy, and Heartland Whole Health Institute have reached a 30-year agreement and will invest $700 million to expand access to health care, reduce costs, and improve health outcomes in the central United States.

According to the Tuesday (Sept. 24) announcement, the collaboration includes Cleveland Clinic, which will contribute its cardiovascular knowledge to the effort. The release shows the 30-year affiliation agreement is expected to bring “transformative, value-based care” to the central United States and make “Northwest Arkansas a destination for care and a national example of how to provide health care in new and innovative ways.”

The initial investment will include a new cardiovascular facility, outpatient center and additional physicians for Northwest Arkansas. Mercy will invest $350 million to build a new cardiac care center of excellence on its Rogers campus and provide resources for additional physician recruitment. It plans “to bring hundreds to the region in the coming years,” the release shows. The new center will be co-branded by Mercy and Cleveland Clinic, which is expected to establish processes and best practices and foster a culture of innovation.

The Alice L. Walton Foundation will provide $350 million in part to develop an outpatient center of excellence for specialty care, including new cardiac services and virtual care in Bentonville, and to attract, train and retain physicians for the region. According to the release, this is one of the largest specialty-care investments in the central United States.

According to a Mercy spokesman and a spokeswoman for the Alice L. Walton Foundation, plans for the new centers in Rogers and Bentonville are in the early stages. Details on the centers will be released when they become available.

After the initial investments, the organizations will look at additional opportunities to expand care in the region.

“We believe that everyone deserves quality whole health care closer to home,” said philanthropist Alice Walton, founder of Heartland Whole Health Institute and the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine. “This powerful collaboration with Mercy and Cleveland Clinic will change the health care landscape in the heartland, bringing together organizations that are dedicated to increasing quality, reducing costs and making accessible, value-based care a reality.”

Alice Walton is the only daughter of Walmart founders Sam and Helen Walton. Heartland Forward, a Bentonville think-and-do tank, defines the heartland as the 20 states in the middle of the United States, including Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

“We are pleased to be working with the Alice L. Walton Foundation, Mercy and Heartland Whole Health Institute to enhance access to quality cardiovascular care for the communities of Northwest Arkansas,” said Tom Mihaljevic, president and CEO of Cleveland Clinic. “This collaboration helps Cleveland Clinic fulfill our commitment to provide safe, compassionate care for more patients.”

The Alice L. Walton Foundation and Cleveland Clinic previously collaborated on an initiative to enhance access to specialty care services in Northwest Arkansas after a study by the Northwest Arkansas Council showed that the region loses about $950 million because patients seek specialty care outside of Northwest Arkansas.

“We are at the beginning of a decades-long relationship to transform health care,” said Steve Mackin, president and CEO of St. Louis-based Mercy. “Health care has become increasingly complex, but we are committed to working closely with Alice and her teams to innovate a new model of care – one that reduces the total cost of health care while increasing the quality of care and providing access for all. … We are excited about bringing significantly enhanced, broad specialty care to Northwest Arkansas while continuing to create meaningful and lasting change in the region.”

According to the release, the new cardiac centers are expected to “form the foundation of a health hub” to help reduce the amount of patient care that leaves the region. The centers will also provide the heartland region with “access to a comprehensive spectrum of cardiac services,” help to reduce health care costs, “deploy a model of preventative, whole health care that leverages technology and telehealth to improve health outcomes,” and attract new physicians.

Mercy and Cleveland Clinic will work with Heartland Whole Health Institute “to ensure whole health principles form the foundation of the new cardiac centers, considering patients’ physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being and putting them at the center of a preventative and value-based care model.” As part of the agreement, Mercy will be the primary educational partner for Alice L. Walton School of Medicine.