Arkansas Children's reveals another donation as construction continues

The Hunt family has given $1 million toward the Arkansas Children's Northwest being built in Springdale, the hospital's foundation revealed Monday.

The gift is on top of $5 million J.B. Hunt Transport Services gave earlier this year to the effort, which will bring an extension of the Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock to a site near Arvest Ballpark. The hospital is set to open in early 2018.

Johnelle Hunt, the company's co-founder, called the hospital a "gift" that will "transform the care we are able to provide to the children of Springdale and the region."

"Every child deserves the opportunity to reach his or her full potential," she said in a release from the hospital foundation.

The money was part of the $53 million in donations announced in August, when the hospital kicked off a public fundraising campaign. The hospital will cost about $167 million to build and hundreds of millions more to run for the first several years, hospital officials said previously. They hope to raise about $70 million.

Foundation spokeswoman Ashley Leopoulos said the hospital didn't have an updated tally of donations on Monday.

Construction of the 230,000-square-foot hospital has been going for about two months, with the structure's steel frame expected to be finished this week. The hospital will house clinics and labs, 24 inpatient beds, an emergency department and several operating rooms to serve the region's roughly 200,000 children.

Donations include $3 million from the Walton Family Foundation, which the hospital foundation announced last week and is also part of the previously announced total. That money will go toward an outdoor nature trail and labyrinth on the 37-acre campus.

The land was donated by Robin and Gary George and Cathy and David Evans of George's Inc. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and the Walmart Foundation gave another $8 million, and Tyson Foods and the Tyson family chipped in $15 million, the hospital's biggest gift.

NW News on 09/27/2016

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