Alice L. Walton Foundation and Mercy Break Ground on AWSOM Whole Health Campus, Marking a New Era for Whole-Person Health in the Heartland

Buildings for world-class specialty care, including cardiac and cancer care, will anchor the first phase of a 120+-acre destination

Key Points

• The Alice L. Walton Foundation and Mercy broke ground on a 120+-acre campus for specialty care and whole-health innovation in Bentonville, Arkansas.
• As part of the long-term agreement between the Foundation and Mercy, specialty care services will include extensive cardiac care, in partnership with Cleveland Clinic, as well as cancer, orthopedics, and gastroenterology, creating a multi-state destination. 
• The announcement of its name, AWSOM Whole Health Campus, builds on the shared vision of Alice L. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM) and Heartland Whole Health Institute.
• A $50 million charitable pledge from the Tyson Family Foundation and Tyson Foods, Inc., marks the first philanthropic milestone to support the campus.

BENTONVILLE, Ark., Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Alice L. Walton Foundation and Mercy today celebrated the groundbreaking of a new health care campus in Bentonville, a significant milestone in the creation of a transformative destination for health and well-being in Northwest Arkansas.

The 120+-acre campus located two miles east of downtown Bentonville represents a bold vision for health care in the Heartland, bringing world-class specialty care, whole-person health, and community together in an environment intentionally shaped by nature, art, and evidence-based design.

"Today marks an important step toward realizing a vision that has been years in the making," said founder and philanthropist Alice Walton. "Through prioritizing a whole-health focus and bringing together excellent partners, we're creating a health care destination for our region, the Heartland, and beyond."

Advancing Specialty Care
The groundbreaking represents the latest milestone in a long-term collaboration between the Alice L. Walton Foundation and Mercy. The organizations are making significant investments to expand access to high-quality specialty care, advance whole-person health, and position Northwest Arkansas as a destination for leading-edge care and a national example of innovative health care delivery.

The vision for the campus grew from efforts to address longstanding gaps in access to specialty care across the region. Construction has now begun on the campus's first building, the Center for Advanced Specialty Care, which will focus on cardiac care services in affiliation with Cleveland Clinic.

Planned to open in 2029, the 709,000-square-foot facility will significantly expand access to specialty and virtual care for patients across Northwest Arkansas and the broader Heartland region. Initial specialties will include orthopedics, gastroenterology, and neurology, helping connect more people to advanced care closer to home and addressing rural health care needs.

In addition, a world-class cancer care destination is in development, with more than 1.1 million square feet dedicated to oncology treatment. The campus will also include a new hospital containing over 250 beds and 40 operating rooms in an additional 1 million square feet, creating nearly 3 million new square feet dedicated to specialty care. The AWSOM Whole Health Campus will be built in alignment with Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas, including its ongoing expansion of services and its work toward a new Level II Trauma Center designation.

"This is a defining moment for Northwest Arkansas and the Heartland," said Steve Mackin, Mercy President and CEO. "People deserve access to world-class specialty care close to home. Together with Alice and her team, we're building something unique, bringing leading-edge care, innovation and whole-person health to the heart of America, while simultaneously addressing some of health care's biggest problems."

"As a global leader in cardiovascular care, Cleveland Clinic is pleased to partner with Mercy and Alice Walton's AWSOM Whole Health Campus to help bring patient-centered care to the region," said Cleveland Clinic CEO and President Tom Mihaljevic, M.D., holder of the Morton L. Mandel CEO Chair. "This collaboration supports our goal of reaching more patients to provide exceptional care and the best experience in health care." 

Prioritizing Whole Health
The name for the campus was also announced: AWSOM Whole Health Campus. The name reflects a shared vision among Alice L. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM) and Heartland Whole Health Institute to reimagine how health care is delivered and experienced.

Founded by Alice Walton, the organizations share a commitment to transforming health care through a whole-person approach. AWSOM Whole Health Campus will bring together advanced specialty care, therapeutic landscapes, trails, and gathering spaces in a setting that recognizes the connection between physical, mental, emotional, and social well-being.

"Including AWSOM in the campus name reflects our belief that the future of health care begins with how we educate the next generation of physicians," says Dr. Sharmila Makhija, Founding Dean and CEO of Alice L. Walton School of Medicine. "Together with Mercy, our primary education partner, AWSOM brings its educational and clinical expertise to a campus designed to integrate learning, patient care, and innovation. By training students in whole-person care and grounding them in whole-health principles, which are the foundation of value-based care, we are creating an environment where patient-centered care is not only taught, but practiced every day."

Reaching Rural Communities
AWSOM Whole Health Campus will serve as a specialty care hub, and through virtual care and strong collaborations with local providers, it will bring that expertise closer to patients — keeping care local as much as possible while connecting patients to the highest level of specialty care when needed.

"We are not building a specialty care campus solely for Northwest Arkansas; we are building a hub and spoke model that can strengthen access to specialty care across the region," said Dr. Claude Pirtle, President of Heartland Whole Health Institute. "By combining world-class clinical expertise with virtual care and partnerships, we can create a model that brings high-quality specialty care closer to home."

Building Community Connections
Today's ceremony also marks a significant philanthropic milestone for AWSOM Whole Health Campus, with the announcement of a major charitable pledge of a $50 million combined contribution from the Tyson Family Foundation and Tyson Foods, Inc. This generous pledge reflects growing community support for the campus vision and its potential to transform health and well-being across the region.

"This extraordinary pledge is a testament to the shared commitment our community has for this project," said Walton. "Their generosity will help support the development of this transformative campus and the vision it represents for the future of health and wellness."

AWSOM Whole Health Campus is being brought to life through the collaboration of nationally recognized partners in health care, design, and construction. CannonDesign serves as lead architect, EDSA leads landscape architecture and planning, and Nabholz serves as construction manager for the first phase.

When complete, AWSOM Whole Health Campus will stand as a new destination for specialty care, health, and healing in the Heartland, reflecting a belief that the best health care not only treats illness, but helps people thrive. To learn more: www.awsomwholehealth.org.

AWSOM Whole Health Campus
Inspired by Alice Walton's vision for transforming health care, AWSOM Whole Health Campus is a 120+-acre health care destination under development in Bentonville, Arkansas. Its name reflects a shared commitment alongside Alice L. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM) and Heartland Whole Health Institute to reimagining how health care is delivered and experienced. The campus will bring specialty care, whole-person health, and community together in an environment intentionally shaped by nature, art, and evidence-based design.

Developed by the Alice L. Walton Foundation in collaboration with Mercy and informed by the expertise of Cleveland Clinic, the campus is focused on expanding access to high-quality, value-based specialty care in the Heartland while improving outcomes and reducing costs. Its first building, the Center for Advanced Specialty Care, is intended to open in 2029. To learn more about AWSOM Whole Health Campus, our partnerships, and milestones visit www.awsomwholehealth.org.

Mercy
Mercy, one of the 15 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized care and one of the nation's largest and highest performing Accountable Care Organizations in quality and cost. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state healthcare system including 55 acute care and specialty (heart, children's, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has over 1,000 physician practice locations and outpatient facilities, more than 6,000 physicians and advanced practitioners and more than 50,000 caregivers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In fiscal year 2025 alone, Mercy provided more than half a billion dollars of free care and other community benefits, including traditional charity care and unreimbursed Medicaid. 

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Contact:
Meredith Mallen, Media, GCI Health
[email protected]
516.987.2313

SOURCE Alice L. Walton Foundation