McCarthy Completes $185M Addition and Expansion at Mercy Hospital Fort Smith

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., the oldest privately held construction firm in the U.S. and a leading national healthcare construction manager, has completed a major addition and expansion for Mercy Hospital Fort Smith. The $185-million, five-story, 162,000-square-foot addition enhances emergency care, behavioral health, imaging, and intensive care services for one of the nation’s 15 largest health systems, enabling Mercy to accommodate approximately 25,000 more patient visits annually. 

Delivered under a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) contract, the project minimized owner risk while leveraging McCarthy’s preconstruction services to develop accurate pricing and explore cost/value (COVA) alternatives to maintain budget targets. Construction began in February 2022 and was completed in April 2025.

In addition to McCarthy, which served as construction manager, partners included ENFRA (formerly BTME) engineer for MEPFP systems; HKS Architects for architecture and structural design; Olsson Associates, civil engineer; and Northstar Management, owner-representative program manager

Most notably, the project increased emergency department rooms from 29 to 50, added six trauma rooms, and expanded ICU beds from 36 to 64. The new ER features dedicated spaces for infectious disease and behavioral health patients, including a secure, five-room area designed to ensure the safety of both patients and staff.

Major infrastructure upgrades included enhancements to the mechanical penthouse, helipad, and parking decks, along with an expanded central utility plant featuring new cooling towers, a generator, and chillers. Work also included the addition of a 22-bed observation unit in the former ICU space, which required no renovation.

“Delivering this expansion for Mercy Fort Smith meant more than completing a complex healthcare facility, it was about building a stronger future for this community,” said Mike Stapf, Sr. Vice President of Healthcare at McCarthy Building Companies. “Our team worked closely with Mercy and our partners every step of the way to ensure this project met the highest standards for quality, safety and functionality. We’re proud to help increase access to lifesaving care for patients across the region.”

“Building a facility that more than doubles ICU capacity, modernizes emergency care and improves critical infrastructure was both challenging and deeply rewarding. Every milestone, from relocating the helipad for faster patient transport to coordinating hundreds of craft workers and successfully integrating advanced technology, reflected the dedication and collaboration of everyone involved. Seeing these spaces now ready to serve the Fort Smith community and support Mercy’s clinicians for years ahead is a proud moment for our entire team,” said Jeremy Witts, Project Director at McCarthy Building Companies.

Key construction elements included precast concrete, site improvements and advanced technology. A hybrid structural system incorporated precast concrete, masonry, EIFS (exterior insulation and finish systems), and cast-in-place concrete, topped with a steel-framed mechanical penthouse. Site improvements included a surface lot expansion and a new integrated parking garage to enhance circulation. Advanced technologies such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) tools were extensively used. These included MCC prisms and underground utility mapping for precise layout, as well as interactive model walkthroughs that supported logistics planning, signage coordination, and the optimization of staff and patient flow.

The expansion was the latest in a long-standing collaboration between McCarthy and Mercy, a nonprofit Catholic healthcare organization founded in 1871, serving 2.7 million patients annually across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

About McCarthy

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. (McCarthy) is the oldest privately held national construction company in America. With 160 years spent collaborating with partners to solve complex building challenges on behalf of its clients, McCarthy is committed to delivering superior results and creating great experiences for everyone. With an unrelenting focus on safety and a comprehensive quality program in all phases of the project, McCarthy utilizes industry-leading design phase and construction techniques combined with value-add technology to maximize outcomes. Repeatedly honored as a Best Place to Work and Healthiest Employer, McCarthy is ranked the 17th largest domestic builder (Engineering News-Record, May 2024). With over 8,000 salaried employees and craft professionals, the firm has offices in St. Louis; Atlanta; Collinsville, Ill.; Kansas City, Kan.; Omaha, Neb.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Denver; Austin, Channelview, Dallas, and Houston, Texas; and San Diego, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento, Calif. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com or by following the company on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

About Mercy
Mercy, one of the 15 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized care and one of the nation’s largest and highest performing Accountable Care Organizations in quality and cost. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state health care system including 50 acute care and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has over 1,000 physician practice locations and outpatient facilities, more than 5,000 physicians and advanced practitioners and more than 50,000 co-workers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. In fiscal year 2023 alone, Mercy provided more than half a billion dollars of free care and other community benefits, including traditional charity care and unreimbursed Medicaid.