St. Edward Mercy Medical Center is the premier healthcare provider in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma serving a population over 430,000 in 14 counties. With 349 beds, St. Edward Mercy offers the highest caliber medical and clinical staff, leading-edge technology, and over 100 years of Mercy Service. In July of 2002, St. Edward Mercy opened the "Centers of Excellence", a $70 million reinvestment in the community which houses the St. Edward Mercy Heart Center, Women's Center and Outpatient Surgery Center. 
The complex includes a 55,488 square foot state-of -the-art Mercy Heart Center offering comprehensive heart services and 77,997 square foot OutPatient Surgery Center offering surgical treatment without overnight stay. Mercy Amubulatory Surgery Center received the Press-Ganey Compass Award for outstanding customer service.
St. Edward is part of the Mercy SafeWatch eICU Program. Mercy Safewatch provides monitoring of more than 400 ICU beds across the Sisters of Mercy Health System. The Command Center, the largest in the U.S. is based at St. John’s Mercy Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
In 2010, St. Edward will begin using the EPIC software system which will allow access to patient information with the same chart for inpatient and outpatient services. Epic's electronic medical records provides for Computerized Physician Order Entry (CPOE) and improves both patient safety and patient outcomes.
In addition, the facility has been fully accredited by The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations. They are also the recipient of Quality Improvement Awards from the Arkansas Foundation for Medical Care; the Hospital Quality Achievement Gold Award, the Hospital Quality Measurement Platinum Award and the Innovator Award. St. Edward has twice been named a National Research Corporation Consumer Choice Award winner by the people of the region as the most preferred hospital in the region for best quality and image.
Fort Smith is famous for its hospitality. You can shop for antiques, attend a festival or symphony performance, see a show or enjoy the great outdoors all year long while in Fort Smith. The sun shines on Fort Smith more than 200 days each year with an average annual high of 72 degrees and low of 49. If golf is your bag, then the Fort Smith region has what you need in both public and private courses. More than 40,000 golf enthusiasts attended the Fort Smith Classic in 2007. The region boasts top notch public and private schools that can provide first-class instruction from pre-school through doctorate degrees offered by the University of Arkansas Fort Smith Campus.
Fort Smith’s cost of living is 87.4% of the national average. Forbes Magazine recently named Fort Smith as the number one city in America for cost of living! With some of the finest lakes and mountains in the country, right in our backyard, families can savor the life they build here. Whether you like shopping at the malls, attending concerts, visiting museums, world-class libraries, enjoying the cuisine at some of the finest and most unique restaurants in the nation, fishing or swimming in beautiful clean lakes and streams or playing in our many parks, it’s all readily available in The Fort Smith Region. But best of all, it’s a safe and fun place to live and raise a family without all the costs and concerns of larger cities. Please go to www.arkansas.com for more information.
