For the Health of Our Community.People – young & old

Together, we can BUILD something special …Community ! People coming together to help one another. That’s

what Sparks Regional Medical Center is all about. Sparks was

founded by caring people who saw a need – a need to care for

the ill and injured among them – and met it. They met it with

commitments of finances … time … and labor. The legacy they

built together has lasted for nearly 120 years now. And through

the years, Sparks and its community have shared a strong bond.

We depend on each other.

What’s the challenge?Sparks Regional Medical Center has been examined by a team

of nationally respected healthcare facilities consultants. They

found that:

• Though aging, the hospital still is very structurally sound.

The core of the hospital was constructed in 1953. Major

wings were added in the 1960s and 1970s.

• There are, as might be expected, some functional

inefficiencies created by the locations of certain inter-

dependent departments. This is not uncommon in facilities

that are expanded incrementally over decades.

• The hospital is adding capacity to keep pace with the anticipated

growth in demand for healthcare services – particularly in

critical-care-related departments.

• The fact that the hospital’s “front door” does not face a major

thoroughfare may be a disadvantage in terms of access and

image.

What’s the solution?Build. Constructing a new home for critical-care departments

will make the process of treating those patients much more

efficient and help the hospital “free up” space in the existing

building. This space can be renovated for other uses.

This process can be repeated, allowing the entire facility to be

rejuvenated over time, efficiently and economically. An

expansion would also create an opportunity to “re-orient” the

hospital toward Towson Avenue, one of Fort Smith’s busiest

thoroughfares.

Build what? Emergency/CriticalCare CenterThe new Emergency/Critical Care

Center (Sparks Renaissance Project) –a two-story structure (142,000 sq. ft.)

will adjoin the hospital’s southwest

corner (12th and South I Streets) and

extend south (occupying most of the

current main parking lot) and east

toward HealthSouth Rehabilitation

Hospital. The expansion will:

• Serve as the new home of – and

create greater operational

efficiencies for – several inter-

dependent departments such as:

o The much expanded 35-bed Boreham Emergency Center.

o A modernized, all-digital Medical Imaging area.

o Cardiac Catheterization Suite.

o Cardiopulmonary Medicine (including electrophysiology and cardiac ultrasound, etc.)

o 24-bed state-of-the-art Intensive Care Unit.

o "Shelled-in" space for a future Surgery Suite.

o A new public entry hall, providing access to the new and existing sections of the hospital.

o Central Registration area.

Help achieve SPARKS’ healingmission … Saving lives is a big part of Sparks’

reason for existing. And no

departments are more central

to that goal than those that will

be housed in this new, ultra-modern

facility.

Our Emergency Department

currently treats more than 53,000

patients per year and accounts for

about 52 percent of all of Sparks’

admissions. Our stroke and

congestive heart failure programs

are nationally recognized for their

clinical expertise. In fact,

congestive heart failure is our

leading category of admission.

And these numbers are only expected to increase. The graying

of the “Baby Boom” generation, accompanied by our location

in the heart of a section of the country labeled as both the

“Cardiovascular Valley of Death” and the “Stroke Belt,” leads

us to believe that we should add capacity in these vital clinical

areas. For example, our Emergency Department volume alone

is projected to exceed 70,000 patients per year within the

next decade.

Create a legacy for FUTUREgenerations to come … Now, as always, the future of Sparks is determined by the

people of the community we serve. And just as the people

of our community rely on Sparks to be there in their time of

need, we rely on the people of our community to help us

create our future.

In 1887, the Rev. George Degen collected $500 from merchants

along Garrison Avenue to open a hospital to care for an injured

man. In 1908, banker George Sparks made a bequest, in honor

of his late wife, that doubled the capacity of the hospital. Did

those businessmen realize that their investments would yield a

return that has served the community for nearly 120 years?

SPARKS – Our Community Hospital The more things change, the more they stay the same. Today,

our community-centered Board of Trustees still charts our

course based on its constituents’ healthcare needs.

Sparks:

• is locally owned

• is a not-for-profit organization

• is governed by local people

• serves ALL the community

Your investment in the new Emergency/Critical Care Center

can quite literally aid us in saving lives and easing suffering

in our community for many generations to come.

The need is great, and the time is short. The project is

expected to cost about $40 million. We already have

$26.5 million in bond proceeds to begin the work, but

we’re asking for your help to complete this forward-thinking

expansion … to invest in a legacy.

C a r o l y n M c K e l v e y M o o r e , E d . D . , R . N .S e n i o r V i c e P r e s i d e n t I n s t i t u t i o n a l A d v a n c e m e n t

4 7 9 - 7 0 9 - 7 2 3 11 - 8 6 6 - 4 4 1 - 5 4 3 8 t o l l f r e e4 7 9 - 7 0 9 - 7 2 3 2 f a xc a m o o r e @ s p a r k s . o r g

Please help us BUILD SPARKS’ FUTURE –

For the Health of Our Community.