Arkansas Children’s Hospital Unveils Champions Pavilion, New Lobby & Gallery: A Future-Focused ‘New Front Door’ for Pediatric Excellence

LITTLE ROCK, AR (May 18, 2026) — Arkansas Children’s debuts to families a transformative milestone in its $371 million statewide expansion this week. The patient-focused Champions Pavilion, new  lobby and gallery at Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH) feature an easier outpatient surgery experience, expanded clinical research capabilities and centralized family services.

Champions Pavilion, a 157,000-square-foot, three-story facility, was designed to emphasize a family’s perspective and needs, and engineered to solve capacity constraints while providing families with a stress-free experience that prioritizes their time and their child’s comfort.

The new lobby and gallery bring essential family services to the front of the hospital, creating an experience that’s easier to navigate. Designers infused discovery and delight in the new space with the addition of arching butterfly sculptures symbolizing a patient’s journey.

“This expansion is a welcoming new front door for our entire system,” said Arkansas Children’s President & CEO, Marcy Doderer. “By streamlining access, we are delivering an experience that minimizes wait times and replaces uncertainty with peace of mind. It is a privilege to pair our clinical expertise with the most sophisticated, contemporary approaches to care. We aren’t simply opening a building; we are inviting our community into the future of the patient experience.”

Generous investments from community leaders and donors have turned the statewide expansion into a reality. To date, the Arkansas Children’s Foundation has raised over $35 million for ACH’s expansion, anchored by lead gifts from B. Thomas Golisano and the Arkansas Children’s Hospital Auxiliary.

Revolutionizing the Patient Experience

From valet parking and seamless check-in to a café located directly in the waiting area, Champions Pavilion is designed to make care easier for families. The facility introduces a “one-stop shop” model for the state’s only nationally ranked pediatric Orthopedics program and a massive leap forward in clinical research and surgical efficiency.

Key features of the Three-Story Expansion:

World-Class Orthopedics & Sports Medicine: Expansion from 16 to 26 exam rooms, featuring eight individual casting rooms and three on-site X-ray/EOS imaging suites. The program now includes a state-of-the-art rehab space complete with a turf field, track and regulation wooden basketball court to help young athletes return to play safely. From triage to X-ray to clinic and dynamic rehab, every turn of the new Arkansas Children’s sports medicine and ortho space is designed as a one-stop-shop making treatment faster and easier.

Advanced Outpatient Surgery: A market-leading outpatient surgery facility features eight operating rooms with ability to expand. By making it easier for parents to stay close to their children, these suites help soothe young patients' fears both before and after their procedures. All post-op recovery areas now offer increased privacy with walled spaces. Arkansas Children’s will be able to provide nationally acclaimed outpatient surgical care that will also come with easier scheduling and quicker discharge for everything from ear tubes to minimally invasive gastrointestinal procedures.

The Future of Discovery: A state-of-the-art Pediatric Clinical Research Unit (PCRU) brings cutting-edge science closer to children and families. With up to 16 private rooms and a dedicated food allergy prep kitchen, the PCRU allows Arkansas families to access emerging treatments — including gene therapy and new biologics for asthma and allergies — years before they reach the general market. A new 5,000-square-foot automated lab drastically reduces wait times for critical diagnoses.

Statewide Impact

While Champions Pavilion hosts outpatients at Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, the system-wide expansion also includes a 72,000-square-foot addition at Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW) in Springdale, scheduled to open in phases through this fall. The hospital will expand to 40 inpatient beds to support growing demand in northwest Arkansas.

Within two years of completing the expansion, the number of expert providers is expected to grow by 40% at ACH and 70% at ACNW, ensuring that world-class pediatric care is never out of reach for families across the heartland.

For more information on the expansion and to view photos and footage of the new spaces, visit www.archildrens.org/expansion.

ABOUT ARKANSAS CHILDREN’S

Arkansas Children's is the only health system in the state solely dedicated to caring for Arkansas' 850,000 children. The private, non-profit organization includes the Arkansas Children’s Golisano Campus in Little Rock, home to Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH), and the Arkansas Children’s Walker Campus in Springdale, home to Arkansas Children’s Northwest (ACNW). The two pediatric hospitals host 361 licensed beds, supported by a pediatric research institute and USDA nutrition center, a philanthropic foundation, a nursery alliance, statewide clinics and many education and outreach programs — all focused on fulfilling a promise to define, discover and deliver unprecedented child health. ACH is a Magnet-recognized facility operating the state’s only Level I pediatric trauma center; the state's only burn center; the state's only Level IV neonatal intensive care unit; the state's only pediatric intensive care unit; the state’s only pediatric surgery program with Level 1 verification from the American College of Surgeons (ACS); and the state's only nationally recognized pediatric transport program. Arkansas Children’s is nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report in seven pediatric subspecialties (2025-2026): Cancer, Cardiology & Heart Surgery, Nephrology, Neurology & Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology & Lung Surgery and Urology. ACNW, the first and only pediatric hospital in the northwest Arkansas region, is a Level IV pediatric trauma center. ACNW operates an inpatient unit that will expand in 2026; a surgical unit with five operating rooms; outpatient clinics offering over 20 subspecialties; diagnostic services; imaging capabilities; occupational therapy services; and northwest Arkansas' only pediatric emergency department. Generous philanthropic and volunteer engagement has sustained Arkansas Children's since it began as an orphanage in 1912, and today ensures the system can deliver on its promise of unprecedented child health. To learn more, visit archildrens.org.

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