Every mayor is required to deliver a State of the City address within the first 90 days of each year and Mayor George McGill fulfilled this duty Wednesday night at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith (UAFS) by reviewing 2019′s ups and downs.

Dignitaries from Mercy, Kindred Healthcare and Arkansas Colleges of Health Education were on hand to raise shovels and ask for blessing of the new 40-bed hospital that is expected to cost about $21 million. Mercy Fort Smith is partnering with Louisville, Ky.-based Kindred Healthcare to build the rehabilitation hospital on land donated by ACHE. The facility will be next to the Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine on the ACHE campus and serve as a teaching site for students in ACHE’s School of Occupational Therapy and School of Physical Therapy, press information provided by Mercy said.

VIDEO: Mercy Fort Smith/Kindred Rehabilitation Hospital blessing ceremony