Saline Memorial Hospital: Bryant Campus

Saline Memorial Hospital takes their commitment of “making quality, personalized care convenient and accessible to Saline County and surrounding areas” very seriously. So when they learned several years ago that Bryant’s quickly growing population needed more healthcare options and facilities, they began working on a comprehensive plan to correct the problem and meet the need. And just this month those years of hard work will finally become public as they break ground on their new Bryant campus.

Saline Memorial Responds To Our County’s Growth

According to Bob Trautman, CEO of Saline Memorial Hospital, the need for expansion into Bryant and the east end of Saline County became very clear to the hospital leadership several years ago. He says, “We identified the need in 2012 after a community assessment took place. Bryant has been underserved for the last few years as the area has experienced exponential growth.” In response to this information, decisions were made and plans put in place to centralize several clinics and expand the Saline Memorial Hospital footprint within the city of Bryant.

Saline Memorial acquired property in Bryant located close to the intersection of Market Place Drive and Highway 5, just north of Ashley Furniture Home Store and Walmart. The land has an existing five acre lake which will be developed with walking paths and pavilions for use by employees, patients and families. The new campus promises to be a scenic and convenient location for Saline County residents.

The campus will be in constant development and expansion mode as the hospital leadership team works through a phased plan that will take ten years to complete. Shares Bob, “This is a phased plan that begins with relocating existing clinics like Central Arkansas Women’s Group and Bryant Medical Clinic, to name a few, to the new location first, then there will be an outpatient surgery center that will follow in another six to eight months, and eventually we’ll move hospice to the same location. This is a ten-year plan that takes our existing leases into consideration.”

Groundbreaking takes place in mid-March, and construction is expected to take anywhere from eight to ten months, the Bryant community can expect to have this new facility ready in early 2016. According to Bob “Our new facility will be an outpatient clinic, and will make quality care more accessible to the growing Saline County community, which is a priority.”

“Consolidation of services like physical therapy and imaging, just to name a few, to one location will make care more accessible and user-friendly for our patients. We’re bringing in new services as well in an effort to make the experience as positive and complete as possible,” says Bob.

This expansion into Bryant and the east end means big things for all the residents of Saline County. Not only does this allow for more localized care, it also will result in reduced travel costs for routine clinic visits, keeping Bryant residents from having to make the drive to Little Rock, or the far side of Benton to Saline Memorial. Another major perk to having a new campus in Bryant is that it keeps healthcare dollars in Saline County, which is a huge win for all.

Saline Memorial Hospital has positioned themselves as the lead healthcare provider for the Benton community, and with this pending expansion, is poised to become the same for Bryant and the east end of the county. This goes to show that so many good things come alongside a thriving community with lots of growth. Not only will this new Saline Memorial Hospital campus bring with it more local healthcare options, it also brings with it more people moving to the Saline County community to work at the campus, new jobs, taxable dollars and so much more.

The future continues to look brighter and brighter for both Benton and Bryant, and the County growth and expansion of Saline Memorial Hospital is a huge component of this positive forecast. Saline Memorial Hospital is one of the largest employers in the County with over 1,000 employees. The hospital’s determination to make quality healthcare accessible to Saline County and the surrounding areas means great things for the county, and this is only the beginning. It will be exciting to watch many good things happen as the hospital expansion in Bryant takes place over the next ten years.