Mercy is set to open a 6,534-square-foot primary care clinic inside the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine in Bentonville on Nov. 23, folding routine checkups, lab work and immunizations together with behavioral health and mental wellness support under one roof. The health system describes it as the first clinic of its kind built directly into a medical school.
According to Talk Business & Politics, the clinic will serve patients 18 and older and is built around whole-health principles, with mental wellness care embedded directly into the practice rather than offered as a separate referral. Services will include wellness exams, management of ongoing conditions, diagnosis and treatment of minor illnesses and injuries, labs and immunizations. Mercy is leasing the clinic space, according to a Mercy spokeswoman cited in that report, though the company has not disclosed how much it is investing in the buildout.
Dr. Stephanie Sargent will be the clinic's first provider, backed at launch by a nurse, a receptionist and a practice manager, per the same report. Patients can book appointments online or by calling 479-802-5680, and the clinic will be open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except Wednesdays, when hours run 8 a.m. to noon. Reserved patient parking will be available near the entrance.
A Medical School Built Around Whole-Person Care
The clinic sits on the 134-acre Crystal Bridges campus, which also houses Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Heartland Whole Health Institute — both founded by Alice Walton, the only daughter of Walmart founders Sam and Helen Walton. The medical school on that campus welcomed its inaugural class of 48 students in 2025, as the same Talk Business & Politics report notes.
Dr. Sharmila Makhija said combining patient care and medical education under one roof connects teaching directly with practice, the article reports. Mercy has described itself as carrying a 200-year history into this new model of pairing clinical training with hands-on patient care inside the school itself.
A Much Larger Health Campus Is Also Taking Shape
The new primary care clinic is separate from a far larger project underway nearby: the AWSOM Whole Health Campus, where the Alice L. Walton Foundation and Mercy broke ground on more than 120 acres for specialty care and whole-health innovation, according to Mercy. That campus is planned to include nearly 3 million square feet across three facilities, among them a Center for Advanced Specialty Care focused on cardiology, an oncology center, and a hospital with more than 250 beds and 40 operating rooms.
Construction has begun on the Center for Advanced Specialty Care, which is expected to focus on cardiac treatment in affiliation with Cleveland Clinic and is planned to open in 2029 as a 709,000-square-foot facility, Mercy reports. The Tyson Family Foundation and Tyson Foods have pledged a combined $50 million toward the broader campus project, which sits southwest of Interstate 49 and East Central Avenue in Bentonville. No total cost or completion date for the full campus had been announced, according to Fayetteville Flyer.
Years of Funding Commitments Behind the Buildout
The campus expansion traces back to a 30-year, $700 million affiliation agreement signed in September 2024 between the Alice L. Walton Foundation, Mercy and the Heartland Whole Health Institute. As part of that commitment, Mercy pledged $350 million to build a cardiac-care center of excellence in Rogers and support additional physician recruitment, while the foundation separately committed $350 million in part to develop an outpatient specialty-care center, including cardiac services and virtual care, and to help attract, train and retain regional physicians. A foundation spokeswoman has said the 2024 funding commitment launched development and enhancement of a broad range of specialty-care services.
Dr. John Mohart is a cardiologist and Mercy's chief operating officer. Cleveland Clinic is expected to contribute cardiovascular expertise to the collaboration. A foundation spokeswoman has also said the Bentonville campus project will require investment beyond the original $700 million commitment, though specific financial details were not available to share.
A Different Model Than Student-Run Clinics
Mercy's new clinic is staffed by licensed providers rather than students, distinguishing it from the student-run free clinic model found at roughly 75% of AAMC-member medical schools as of a 2014 estimate, according to the AAMC. That reporting notes such clinics can give medical students hands-on patient experience that supports clinical education, though a 2022 review found they also face resource limits, including constraints on space and physician availability. Mercy's Bentonville clinic, embedded directly in a working medical school but run by professional staff, represents a distinct approach to blending training and treatment.
