Walton heir planning Bentonville med school

BENTONVILLE -- Walmart heir Alice Walton plans to build an independent, nonprofit medical school in Bentonville.

Construction of the Whole Health School of Medicine and Health Sciences is to start next year with plans to open in 2024, according to an announcement Thursday from the Whole Health Institute.

Walton announced she was creating the Whole Health Institute and Chopra Library, a nonprofit organization focused on improving health care, at a meeting of the Northwest Arkansas Council in January 2020. She called the health care system "a disease care system" during the announcement.

Dr. Tracy Gaudet, executive director of the institute, said Walton will pay to build the medical school. The cost hasn't yet been determined. Where in the city the school will be built hasn't yet been announced.

Read more: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2021/mar/05/walton-heir-planning-bentonville-med-school/?news-arkansas