This all-private room general acute care hospital was founded in 1905 and has
304 acute care beds and 39 skilled nursing beds. The medical center serves as a
regional hub to a number of freestanding hospitals and health care facilities
within a 50-mile radius. Currently, St. Edward's has 1,188 full-time equivalent
employees.
LIFESTYLE
With some of the finest lakes and mountains in the country, families in Fort
Smith can savor the life they build here. Whether its shopping, concerts,
visiting museums and 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 one of Fort Smith’s 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.
HOUSING
The Fort Smith Region features some of the best home sites in the state.
Gentle rolling hills and wooded areas wrap in and around the Arkansas River
Valley Region, surrounding it with a rustic beauty. And with a great
transportation network, most subdivisions are tucked into natural settings while
remaining amazingly close to retail and commercial areas.
Prices of homes are cheaper in the Fort Smith Region than in most other
metropolitan areas. For example, an average 1,800 square foot home in the Fort
Smith Region would cost $117,000. The same home would cost $126,850 in Dallas;
$116,750 in Tulsa; $128,475 in Bakersfield, Calif.; $179,740 in Denver; $135,328
in Baltimore; $148,500 in Chapel Hill, N.C.; and $134,307 in Omaha.
EDUCATION
The Fort Smith region boasts public and private schools that can provide
first-class instruction from pre-school through doctorate degrees. Three local
Fort Smith schools were recently honored with 2001 Blue Ribbon distinctions
awarded by the Arkansas Department of Education. Barling, Euper Lane and
Sunnymede were among five elementary schools selected from across the state for
outstanding efforts in education. There are over 608 schools in Arkansas, and
three of the top five were from the Fort Smith School District. Euper Lane has
won the award three times, and Barling and Sunnymede are first time recipients
since the award began in 1982. The recipients join Ballman, Cook, Orr, Trusty
and Woods Elementary Schools as past Fort Smith winners.
