Mercy breaks ground in Pea Ridge
Mercy Medical will return to Pea Ridge after almost a decade.
Mercy officials held a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday, March 9, for the 7,400-square-foot clinic on Carr Street.
The Primary Care clinic will be served by two providers, a physician and nurse practitioner, and feature 14 examination rooms. Specialty providers will also see patients at the clinic on a rotating basis.
“We are so pleased to have Dr. Jennings, an experienced family practitioner with a great background who is right at home in a smaller town like Pea Ridge,” Dr. Steve Goss said, who added that
hiring staff would add new jobs to the community.
Jennings has more than two decades of experience including multiple years in family practice in Kansas, emergency medicine and urgent care, according to Goss, president of Northwest Arkansas Mercy Clinics. He said this was the first of six or seven community clinics that will be opened in Northwest Arkansas and is Mercy’s first as part of a $247 million expansion that will add seven clinics in the region and a second tower to the Rogers hospital.
A medical clinic was first opened in Pea Ridge in the 1970s when 12 area residents put up $5,000 and formed Pea Ridge Enterprises Inc., to build a medical clinic. They solicited Dr. Homer Russell, who later sold to Dr. Kay Morgan. Morgan sold to Mercy Medical. The Pea Ridge Mercy Medical Center was closed in 2008.
Recognizing that business decisions are difficult, Mayor Jackie Crabtree recalled the discussions in 2008 about the initial clinic closure.
“What I appreciate about Dr. Goss,” Crabtree said, “is through all that, he made sure that he kept Pea Ridge in his best interests … we’re going back some day. Dr. Goss, you kept your word and we appreciate that very much.”
“They had to believe in Pea Ridge,” the mayor continued. “We look forward to a long relationship with Mercy.”
Kent Webb and Lisa Webb Crowder were recognized as Webb’s wife (Crowder’s mother), Mary Margaret Webb, was honored. She “raised me up,” Dr. Steve Goss said, explaining that she “ran my lab” and “actually worked with Dr. Russell” in his clinic in Pea Ridge decades ago.
Crossland Construction Co. will start construction this month and complete the building by August. Mercy’s investment in the site and building is expected to total $4.1 million.
The clinic groundbreaking represents Mercy’s return to Pea Ridge. The former clinic was closed in 2008. That building, owned by Mercy, was donated to the city of Pea Ridge and has served as a library and community center for nearly a decade.