Construction underway at Arkansas Children’s Northwest

SPRINGDALE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Construction is underway at Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW) after a $318 million expansion project broke ground in the spring.

This is the largest expansion in its 112-year history, according to ACNW.

The $318 million will be split between two Arkansas Children’s campuses, Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock.

The expansion at the Northwest campus will add four stories to the west side of the building, increasing the total number of inpatient beds from 25 to 40.

“We’re focused on care close to home. That’s been our promise since we moved into Northwest Arkansas, and this will allow us to continue to do that,” Wiggins said.

The expansion will also include two new operating rooms, two procedure rooms, and endoscopy procedure room, a new pharmacy and a new lab, according to Jamie Wiggins, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at ACNW.

“We’ll also be taking care of higher acuity patients here so that we can continue to keep some of the sickest and most critical patient close to home,” Wiggins said.

Nicole Huddleston, Director of Operations, has worked at Arkansas Children’s Northwest for the past four years, but before that, she walked the same halls with her daughter.

“My daughter has juvenile arthritis, and she was diagnosed at age four, and she’s now 11 years old,” Huddleston said.

While her daughters care began long before Arkansas Children’s Northwest existed, having more accessible care has been life-changing and has helped her to daughter to thrive, Huddleston said.

“Without Arkansas Children’s being in our community, we would have to drive more than three hours to get her the care that she needs and that would be time off of work, and time for her out of school,” Huddleston said.

Arkansas Children’s expects to hire about 400 new team members, and more than 150 physicians and providers to split between the two expansions.

“I knew as a mom what a special place Arkansas Children’s is, and I feel very fortunate to be able to be a part of an organization like that professionally,” Huddleston said. “The ability to now impact kids that are like mine, that need that specialized care here in Northwest Arkansas and in the region that we serve, is really just a joy.”

The expansion is set to completed by 2026, with some additional interior renovations to be completed in 2027, according to Wiggins.

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