Hospital to have 96 beds, eight operating rooms, and a Level III trauma-center emergency room

CONWAY—Located about a 30-minute drive from Little Rock, Conway has experienced some of the largest population growth in the state with the number of residents increasing from about 44,000 in the 2000 U.S. Census to about 60,000 currently. Faulkner County population has been on a similar trajectory. Long a referral center for not just Faulkner County but also Conway, Cleburne, Perry and Van Buren and Cleburne counties, Conway is soon to become a two-hospital town.

Currently the Conway Regional Health System has a 154-bed hospital, about 125 physicians and 1,400 employees. The new Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway is being planned to provide 96 beds, eight operating rooms, and a Level III trauma-center emergency room. The new hospital will be located on about 37 acres on the west side of Interstate 40, near Exit 129. It is expected to employ about 425 people when it opens.

Jamie Gates, executive vice president, Conway Area Chamber of Commerce, said the new hospital would firmly establish Conway as a regional destination for healthcare.

“You could live 70 miles west or 70 miles north, and we are probably your stop for healthcare,” Gates said. “We have a healthy mix of employers including three colleges, manufacturers and the natural gas industry. And now healthcare is emerging as one of our largest employers.”

The new hospital is needed because of the unprecedented population growth in the past ten years in Conway and the surrounding area, said Troy Wells, president and CEO of Baptist Health.

“The new Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway will address the healthcare needs of Faulkner County and surrounding areas,” Wells said. “It will be operated as a not-for-profit, faith-based community hospital offering comprehensive clinical services.”

Wells said some of the most notable features of their hospital being built today, versus older hospitals, involve technology. This new medical center will be designed to integrate state-of-the-art equipment and technology.

“Today, we have to retrofit existing hospitals to accommodate new technology, but in a new facility, it will be included in the design,” Wells said. “This would include both clinical technology, as well as information technology.”

Baptist Health is collaborating with 30 Conway-based physicians in developing the hospital and plans to continue to partner with them as they manage the medical center going forward.

Ben Dodge, MD, an orthopedic surgeon who is chairman of the Physician Steering Committee for Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway, said at the ground-breaking July 7, 2014 that the new hospital is the culmination of years of hard work and perseverance by a dedicated group of physicians and the steering committee that worked closely with Baptist Health Administration on the development of this project.

“We are impressed with Baptist Health’s professionalism, integrity, and insight into the healthcare needs of Arkansans,” Dodge said. “We now look forward to the construction and subsequent opening of Baptist Health-Conway in early 2016.”

Other alliances are also under consideration.

“Baptist Health is interested in improving the health and well-being of this entire region, not just Faulkner County,” Wells said. “Part of our ability to do this might mean working with other providers in the region in a collaborative fashion. That might include other health systems, physicians or other community members such as schools, government, social service organizations, etc.”

The construction phase of the 216,000-square-foot Baptist Health Medical Center-Conway is expected to generate approximately 250 jobs. GSR Andrade is providing architectural design services and CDI is serving as the general contractor.

Baptist Health is the largest healthcare provider in Arkansas and has the state’s largest primary-care physician network. The Conway facility will be the ninth hospital operated by Baptist Health in Arkansas. Baptist Health has hospitals in Little Rock, North Little Rock, Arkadelphia, Heber Springs, Stuttgart and Hot Spring County. It is the state’s third largest non-government employer with only Walmart and Tyson Foods employing more people in the state.