The nearly finished Arkansas Children’s Northwest hospital received another $1 million donation, the latest from the Whitaker Family Foundation, the hospital announced Thursday.
The foundation gave the money in keeping with its mission to support medical research into chronic and serious conditions that affect children, according to a news release. The gift brings donations for the Springdale hospital to $68 million.
“Pauline Whitaker, the matriarch of the family foundation, established the foundation’s focus on children’s health care and education and is proud to support Arkansas Children’s Northwest and the vital services the new hospital will provide to families in the region,” Christian Gunn-Schinker, the foundation’s executive director, said in a written statement.
The 230,000-square-foot hospital is to open this month and will have clinics and labs, 24 inpatient beds, a pediatric emergency department, several operating rooms and other services. Arkansas Children’s in Little Rock will remain the site for the most critical procedures.
The Whitaker foundation began in 2014 on behalf of Pauline Whitaker and her late husband, C. Don Whitaker, one of the first Wal-Mart employees, according to the foundation’s website. Its gift is in addition to more than a dozen donations of at least $1 million for the hospital.