Alice L. Walton School of Medicine Hosts White Coat Ceremony for Class of 2030

Today the Alice L. Walton Foundation and Mercy broke ground on AWSOM Whole Health Campus, a transformative destination in Bentonville that will bring together world-class specialty care, whole-person health, nature, art, and community in one environment shaped by evidence-based design.

This groundbreaking marks the beginning of construction on the campus's first building, the Center for Advanced Specialty Care, which will focus on cardiac care services in affiliation with Cleveland Clinic. According to the Arkansas Department of Health, heart disease is the leading cause of death in Arkansas – making cardiac care a natural place to start for this initiative.

The 709,000-square-foot facility, planned to open in 2029, will make a significant impact in addressing gaps to specialty and virtual care for patients across the Heartland region. Initial specialties provided by Mercy, Alice L. Walton School of Medicine’s primary educational partner, will include neurology, orthopedics, and gastroenterology.

In addition, the campus will feature a world-class cancer care destination, with over 1.1 million square feet dedicated to cancer care. A hospital containing over 250 beds and 40 operating rooms in an additional 1 million square feet, is also in development.

“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 Sharmila Makhija, MD, MBA, AWSOM Founding Dean and CEO. “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."

Read the full news release to learn more.