Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
New hospital to benefit Arkansas children
Ann Meythaler said the planned children’s hospital in Springdale will be life-changing for families like hers.
Meythaler and her husband, Kerry Meythaler, have eight children, six of whom are adopted. Hayden, 2, is the youngest. She was diagnosed with leukemia Oct. 28, one day after the Meythalers adopted her.
The couple also adopted Heyden’s 5-year-old biological sister, Meredith, on Oct. 27, Ann Meythaler said. Meredith was born with cerebral palsy.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital leaders in August announced plans to build a 24-bed, 225,000-square-foot hospital near Arvest Ballpark on land donated by Gary and Robin George and David and Cathy Evans.
The Springdale City Council approved rezoning the land for the hospital in February, and the Planning Commission approved the large scale development plan for the hospital the same month.
In 2014, Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock had about 49,000 outpatient visits from patients living in Washington and Benton counties, said Trisha Montague, the hospital’s senior vice president of regional services. There were about 2,200 inpatient visits from patients living in those counties, 450 of whom were transported by helicopter.
Montague projected the new hospital in Springdale in its first year will have about 1,700 visits for inpatient care, about 30,000 emergency visits, about 30,000 clinic visits and about 2,800 visits for surgeries, most of which will be outpatient procedures.
HELPING FAMILIES
Hayden made three trips to the children’s hospital in Little Rock in the first 30 days after her diagnosis, Meythaler said. Those trips consisted of a 10-day inpatient stay, a twoday stay and a three-day stay.
Friends had to bring Ann Meythaler’s car to her twice during those trips so she and Hayden could get home afterward. She said it’s difficult to be far from family, friends and support groups during Hayden’s treatment.
Ann Meythaler took Hayden to Children’s in Little Rock once a week for six weeks after the first 30-day period, she said. They now travel to Little Rock about once every 10 days.
A routine day trip to the hospital in Little Rock for Hayden’s treatment lasts from 5 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., Meythaler said. These trips will eventually be once a month.
The type of leukemia Hayden has is called acute lymphoblastic leukemia, Meythaler said. The treatment for a girl her age is chemotherapy for 2½ years. The success rate for treatment is well above 90 percent.
Chemotherapy, however, weakens the immune system, Meythaler said. If Hayden has a fever of 101 degrees or higher, she has to go to the hospital.
This has happened to Hayden twice, both within the 30 days after she was diagnosed, Meythaler said. The family took Hayden to Mercy Medical Center in Rogers, where hospital staff called an oncologist at the children’s hospital in Little Rock to ask what that doctor would like them to do. They transported Hayden to Little Rock both times.
A new children’s hospital in Springdale could allow parents to bring children to the new hospital instead of taking them to Little Rock, Meythaler said. She thinks her daughter will be done with chemotherapy by the time the new hospital opens, but they still hope to use it for the tests Hayden will need once that treatment is finished. Hayden won’t be considered cured of leukemia until five years after finishing chemotherapy treatment.
Hayden’s sister doesn’t go to the hospital in Little Rock as often as she once did, Meythaler said. At one point, Meredith had to visit the hospital for emergencies three times within six months.
A gastrostomy tube and a button provide a way to feed Meredith, Meythaler said. Those three visits were needed because the button broke and needed to be replaced.
Meythaler said she now has spare buttons. Doctors from the hospital in Little Rock also fly up to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences to see patients. The Meythalers use these visits for Meredith to see her pulmonologist every six months.
Meredith would also be able to use the new hospital planned in Springdale, Meythaler said. If there were an emergency, they would now take her to Little Rock. With the new hospital, they could take her to Springdale instead.
HEATH CARE CONNECTIONS
Existing hospitals in Northwest Arkansas regularly send children to Children’s Hospital in Little Rock.
Montague said she’s met with executives from Northwest Health System, Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville and Mercy in Rogers. There aren’t any specific partnerships outlined at this time, but the new hospital will collaborate with the others.
Northwest Health System usually does hospital-to-hospital transfers when a higher level of care is needed, said Sharif Omar, chief executive officer. He spoke of an intensive care unit for children as an example.
The new hospital in Springdale won’t have a pediatric intensive care unit, said Hilary DeMillo, a spokeswoman for Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Omar said his worry is that many children will still need to be taken to Little Rock because of the absence of this service.
Northwest Medical Center - Springdale, Northwest Medical Center - Bentonville and Willow Creek Women’s Hospital are part of the Northwest Health System, Omar said. The Bentonville hospital has a pediatric unit with eight beds.
Northwest Health System also opened a pediatric urgent care clinic in Springdale in late 2015, said Patricia Driscoll, spokeswoman for the system.
Omar said he thinks there will be positives to the new hospital. He said he hopes the hospital will bring more pediatric specialists to Northwest Arkansas.
Northwest Medical Center - Bentonville transferred less than 6 percent of its pediatric patients to the children’s hospital in Little Rock in 2015, Driscoll said. Willow Creek Women’s Hospital transferred less that 1 percent of babies last year, while Northwest Medical Center - Springdale didn’t transfer any pediatric patients to that hospital. The Springdale hospital doesn’t generally admit pediatric patients.
Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville transferred more than 100 patients to the Little Rock hospital last year, according to Bill Bradley, president and CEO. About 10 percent of those patients were sent back to Washington Regional for restorative care.
Less than 5 percent of the pediatric patients at Mercy are transferred to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock or Mercy Children’s Hospital in Springfield, Mo., according to an email from Martine Pollard, executive director of communications and community integration for Northwest Arkansas communities. Mercy doesn’t anticipate that services at the new hospital will affect Mercy. If needed, its hospitals will still transport children who need critical care.
HOSPITAL PLANS
The plan for the hospital shows a campus of about 36 acres on the northeast corner of the Watkins Avenue and South 56th Street intersection. Interstate 49 borders the property’s east side.
The location has good access to Interstate 49, Montague has said. She has also said the site is centrally located in Northwest Arkansas.
The building will have five floors with entry at ground level and no basement, according to Montague. Officials are working to decide on materials that will be used for the exterior of the building, but there will be a lot of glass.
A small road would extend north from Watkins Avenue along the east side of the hospital building, while another small road would extend east from South 56th Street north of the building. The plan also shows ponds and a walking trail that would wind through the property. The majority of the parking lot space would be just north of the building.
Plans call for the building to have five operating rooms, 30 clinical exam rooms, an emergency department and urgent care center with 21 exam rooms, a helipad and refueling station, and imaging and diagnostic services.
The most critical cases will still need to be transferred to Little Rock, and the Springdale site wouldn’t include a neonatal intensive care unit.
The hospital’s clinic in Lowell now serves about 22,000 children per year, Montague said. The new hospital will have multiple services that aren’t offered at the clinic, like chemotherapy infusions and an MRI machine.
The hospital is set to open in January 2018, Montague said. Officials plan to move all of the clinic’s services to the new hospital at one time around the time of the opening.
The estimated construction cost is about $165 million, Montague has said. The hospital would cost about $245 million to operate for the first five years, according to an email from DeMillo.
Arkansas Children’s Hospital Foundation, the fundraising arm for the hospital, has a goal to raise $70 million for the project, Montague has said. The hospital will make announcements about gifts when families and organizations are ready, according to Montague.
The new hospital will also have its own board of directors, Montague said. The board will not start operating until there is a facility to govern. Hospital officials will choose board members and write bylaws over the next 1½ years.