The agenda of the February meeting of the Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority (FCRA) Board of Trustees meeting included standard approvals and one application for extension.

A partnership between Mercy Fort Smith and Arkansas Colleges of Health Education (ACHE) will bring a new residency program to Mercy and an annual $23 million economic boost to the Fort Smith region.

Mercy Fort Smith and the Arkansas Colleges of Health Education (ACHE) are developing a new residency program, thanks to a $1.3 million donation from ACHE with the assistance of the Degen Foundation.

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

VIDEO: Mercy Fort Smith/Kindred Rehabilitation Hospital groundbreaking ceremony