Little Rock-based Arkansas Children's is kicking off the first phase of its $318 million makeover project this month for both its Little Rock hospital and its Arkansas Children's Northwest hospital in Springdale, Arkansas Business reported March 18.
Updates to the Little Rock campus are expected to be completed by May or June 2026, with the Springdale campus expansion to kick off this summer and be completed in summer 2026, Marcy Doderer, president and CEO of Arkansas Children's Hospital, told the publication.
"Our outpatient facilities are old," Ms. Doderer told the publication. "They're not designed for how you wish to deliver pediatric subspecialty clinic care today. And my fear is without this kind of investment in bricks and mortar, those families will try to seek services elsewhere."
Arkansas Children's shared plans for the project last May, which include recruitment of more than 100 providers and 400 team members, as well as the addition of 265,000 square feet of new space between the two campuses and around 170,000 square feet of renovated space.
The Little Rock campus will add 190,000 square feet and renovate 150,000 square feet of the existing facility. Additions will include a 26-exam-room outpatient building to be used as a surgery center, an orthopedic clinic and a site for the hospital's sports medicine program, the Arkansas Business said.
The Springdale campus will add 72,000 square feet and renovate existing space. Along with the development of an outpatient clinic, more operating rooms, procedure rooms, and clinical and surgical space will also be added.
The campus expansion projects will be funded with up to $162 million in bonds. Arkansas Children's issued $134 million in bonds last year for the Little Rock campus, with bonds not yet issued for the Springdale campus project. The hospital will also use $66 million from its cash reserve and $90 million in donations for the construction, the publication reported.
Becker's has reached out to Arkansas Children's for comment and will update this story if more information becomes available.