The Alice L Walton Foundation, Heartland Whole Health Institute, and health system Mercy have entered a 30-year $700m affiliation agreement to improve healthcare access, minimise costs, and enhance outcomes in the US' Heartland.  

This collaboration is set to bring value-based care to the region, focusing on various specialities and virtual care designed with a holistic approach to health. 

Mercy is committing $350m to the initiative, which includes the construction of a new cardiac care centre of excellence on its campus in Rogers, Arkansas.  

The investment will also cover additional physician recruitment efforts.  

the Alice L Walton Foundation will match this with another $350m to develop an outpatient centre of excellence for speciality care in Bentonville, Arkansas, focusing on cardiac services and virtual care. 

This partnership is said to represent one of the largest-ever investments in specialty care in the Heartland.  

The organisations plan to explore further opportunities to expand care in the region after these initial investments.  

Cleveland Clinic, known for its expertise in cardiology and heart surgery, will contribute on-site expertise to drive cardiovascular care excellence.  

The new cardiovascular centre will be co-branded with Mercy. 

The affiliation builds on a previous initiative by the Alice L Walton Foundation and Cleveland Clinic to improve access to speciality care services in Northwest Arkansas, following a study highlighting the outflow of patients seeking cardiology and other speciality services outside the region.  

The cardiac centres will serve as a health hub for the 20-state Heartland region, offering a comprehensive range of cardiac services aimed at reducing overall care costs and increasing quality through value-based payment initiatives and delivery services. 

In addition, the centres will implement a preventative, whole healthcare model that utilises technology and telehealth to enhance health outcomes and lower healthcare costs.  

Mercy and Cleveland Clinic will work with Heartland Whole Health Institute to ensure that whole health principles, which consider patients' physical, emotional, mental, and social well-being, are at the core of the new cardiac centres.  

Mercy will also serve as the primary educational partner for the Alice L Walton School of Medicine as part of the agreement. 

Alice L Walton School of Medicine and Heartland Whole Health Institute founder philanthropist Alice Waltons said: “We believe that everyone deserves quality whole health care closer to home. 

“This powerful collaboration with Mercy and Cleveland Clinic will change the health care landscape in the Heartland, bringing together organisations that are dedicated to increasing quality, reducing costs, and making accessible, value-based care a reality.”