Excitement is mounting, and so is the square footage at Mercy Hospital Fort Smith, as it moves forward with the opening of a new emergency room and intensive care unit in the first half of 2025.

“From the groundbreaking in February 2022 to the topping-out ceremony last April, we have watched this major project take shape and can’t wait to open our doors to patients next year,” said Jason Demke, Chief Operating Officer of Mercy Hospital Fort Smith.

Mercy began work on Fort Smith’s main hospital in February 2022. The $186 million project will expand the emergency department from 29 to 50 rooms and increase the number of intensive care unit beds from 38 to 64. The new emergency department will accommodate approximately 25,000 additional patient visits per year and include “special considerations for patients with infectious diseases and mental illness.” The emergency department expansion includes a five-room secured area for patients with mental illness, designed for patient and staff safety.

The original estimate for the expansion project was $164 million. That figure rose to $186 million after the project began due to rising material and labor costs. Demke said the project now remains on budget. The expansion, which will add intensive care and emergency room space and more than 160 jobs at Mercy Fort Smith, is on schedule and is expected to be completed by March or April 2025.

“The expansion project is going very well. The exterior work on the new facility is almost complete. Interior work is underway, including drywall, painting and the installation of ceilings and floors,” Demke said.

He attributes much of the smoothness of the project to McCarthy Building Companies and its employees, who worked in conjunction with local engineering, painting, excavation, roofing and landscaping companies to make the new facility a reality for Mercy and the community.

“Overall, this project had an economic impact of more than $50 million in the River Valley and another $14 million outside the River Valley, for a total impact of $64 million for Arkansas,” Demke said.

According to the hospital’s economic impact statement, construction of the project will create 400 temporary jobs, bringing an estimated $34 million to the regional economy. Once completed, the expansion will create 168 new jobs – over two to three years – with a labor impact of $15.5 million, and 56 indirect jobs with an impact of $3.7 million.

The ICU expansion will more than double the available ventilator space and an automation system will allow some rooms to be converted into isolation areas. Other plans include a 22-bed observation unit that will not require renovation, the relocation of the helipad that will improve patient transport, and a new gift shop and meeting room. The work will also include 140 additional parking spaces closer to the new emergency department entrance.

“We are also grateful for the patience and understanding of our staff, patients, visitors and the entire community as we continue to move forward with the construction process. We know this new facility will provide the needed change in the way patients in the region experience care,” Demke said.

He said Mercy’s administration is meeting regularly to discuss the details of moving to the new facility and that recruitment and planning of staff to expand services is underway.

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