The University of Arkansas Board of Trustees approved a plan by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) to lease and operate the Encore Medical Center, a 53-licensed-bed, 108,055-square-foot hospital in Bryant.
The facility will become the newest hospital in the UAMS Health system, increasing UAMS’s overall bed capacity and extending its clinical footprint into Saline County.
UAMS will lease the facility from The Landes Group, a Dallas-based real estate investment firm that is expected to acquire the Encore Medical Center property from Arkansas Heart Hospital by late summer.
Encore Medical Center is an acute care facility at 1901 Encore Way in Bryant. The facility was constructed by Arkansas Heart Hospital and opened in 2021 with a focus on bariatric weight loss surgery and peripheral vascular disease. The center includes emergency services, inpatient medical-surgical beds, intensive care, surgical suites, diagnostic imaging, and laboratory services.
The lease agreement is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks. Encore Medical Center will continue to be operated by the Arkansas Heart Hospital through Sept. 30, 2026. Patient care at Encore will continue throughout the transition. UAMS will assume full operational authority and control on Oct. 1, 2026.