By HFT Staff

Fort Smith, Arkansas, officials and Mercy Hospital Fort Smith co-workers' broke ground on a $162.5 million emergency department (ED) and intensive care unit (ICU) expansion at the facility.  

Plans for expansion were announced in June 2021. During a gathering outside the hospital, Ryan Gehrig, Mercy Hospital Fort Smith president, said Mercy co-workers, patients and families in the region have been eagerly anticipating the hospital’s growth.   

Mercy Fort Smith will expand its ED from 29 to 50 rooms and increase capacity in the intensive care unit from 38 to 64 in a design that provides better workflow and flexibility. The new ED will allow for about 25,000 more patient visits per year and include special considerations for infectious disease and behavioral health patients. An additional 140 parking spaces will accommodate the expansion, with parking closer to the new ED entrance.    

In addition, the increase in ICU beds will more than double the number of rooms capable of supporting ventilators. The building’s automation system is being designed to allow floors or pods to be turned into isolation areas as needed.    

The ED expansion includes a five-room secured area for behavioral health patients that is designed for patient and co-worker safety. Additional plans include a 22-bed observation unit requiring no renovation in the former ICU space, helipad relocation that will improve the patient transport process and new gift shop and meeting room space.   

Construction is expected to be complete in late 2024. Plans are being developed to minimize the impact to Mercy patients during the construction process.