Board OKs continued UAMS site negotiation

Plans for a major expansion by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Northwest Arkansas received a boost Friday as trustees authorized negotiations with a real estate firm to lease a proposed 185,000-square-foot building in Springdale.

Surgeons in orthopedics and other medical specialties would make use of the building, but it would not be an in-patient hospital, according to UAMS leaders. The UAMS Medical Center in Little Rock has more than 500 patient beds, according to its website.

“Our goal here is to consolidate our services. We currently have clinical

services spread throughout Northwest Arkansas at various sites,” Dr. Cam Patterson, chancellor for UAMS, said Friday at a meeting of the University of Arkansas board of trustees. Most taking part in the meeting did so virtually.

The specific location of the proposed new building was not made public.

Trustees approved continued negotiations with commercial real estate firm Sage Partners on a potential 30-year lease deal with a purchase option. But trustees asked for more information before giving further approval.

“I don’t have a problem with a proof of concept and moving forward. But there’s some things I’d like to see,” said Trustee Cliff Gibson, an attorney from Monticello. He said he wanted to see a proposed lease payment schedule. In the meeting, he also asked if a feasibility study had been done for the project.

UAMS leaders said financial projections show the venture would bring in $ 3 million to $4 million yearly, after expenses, from orthopedic surgical procedures and related care.

“Currently, our physician practice in Northwest Arkansas, we’re only able to generate professional fee revenue from that practice. And if we are able to capture the hospital or the technical revenue, that adds additional margin to our bottom line,” Amanda George, the top financial officer for UAMS, told trustees.

George said considering other specialties could add to that “margin,” and other UAMS leaders also said the project creates space for additional specialties and allows for future growth beyond just a single building.

The proposed new facility has “ample operative space for other surgical specialties, such as ear, nose and throat and ophthalmology, for instance,” Dr. Steppe Mette, senior vice chancellor for UAMS Health and chief executive officer for UAMS Medical Center, told trustees.

He said physicians in other specialties, such as specialty cardiology and kidney and liver care, would also have a home in the facility, and that the site would grow as needed to support various health care specialties.

“The way this is being planned is that we would build one building initially to help all those, and as growth is required, we would consider expanding on that campus, as there’s ample room for doing so,” Mette said.

In a phone interview, Mette told the Democrat-Gazette the exact location is not being disclosed but said it “has easy access for patients.”

In 2018, an affiliated hospital, Arkansas Children’s Northwest, opened in Springdale near Interstate 49. Mette said the proposed site is near but not contiguous with the children’s hospital.

Mette described the push for orthopedic surgeons to have a UAMS-operated facility as “just very pragmatic.”

George, the finance officer, told trustees that the Northwest Arkansas orthopedic services are currently losing money “mainly because we are not able to capture the full revenue component of orthopedic practice.”

In response to a question from the Democrat-Gazette about the size of the UAMS orthopedic practice in Northwest Arkansas, Mette said there are five surgeons and other sports medicine physicians who combined see roughly 25,000 patient appointments of various types yearly, at least based on recent activity.

But Mette said three surgeons have recently joined UAMS, so “it’s safe to say that number will double once they’re fully on board and their practices are mature.”

In the phone interview, Mette also said he expects that underserved health specialties will have a home at the facility if the project ends up being approved.

“We are indeed making a commitment to advanced cardiac care, especially around structural heart disease and heart failure,” Mette said.

Consultants who studied health care in the region for a report published by the Northwest Arkansas Council concluded that “underdeveloped” sub-specialties included advanced cardiology and oncology.

Mette said that given the timeline for a new facility might actually open its doors — 18 to 24 months from when it might be approved, he said — he expects cardiology to be among the specialties at the new site from day one or “close to it.”

“This is being done in a very measured way, looking at what is needed now and what is needed over the next five to 10 years,” Mette said.