Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkoma and Washington Regional Medical Center personnel gathered Tuesday to announce the creation of a Ronald McDonald House at the hospital in Fayetteville.
The house, which will serve approximately 1,500 families each year, will be the first Ronald McDonald House in Northwest Arkansas and the second in the state, said Stephanie Medford, president and CEO of the charity’s Arkoma chapter.
Ronald McDonald House's allow families to stay close to their hospitalized children at little to no cost, according to the Ronald McDonald House Charities website.
The house will accommodate infants to juveniles under 18 and their families, providing six bedroom suites with full baths, laundry room, dining room, playroom and kitchen with a fully stocked pantry.
The house will be part of the Women and Infants Center, a five story, 140,000 square foot facility currently being built on the hospital’s campus. The house will be 5,600 square feet and take up the top floor of the center, said Tim Hudson, executive director of the Washington Regional Medical Foundation.
“Once it was known that our project was going to significantly expand the number of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) beds, we realized a partnership with Ronald McDonald House would be a great thing to add to support our patients and families,” Hudson said.
The number of NICU beds at the hospital will increase from 12 to 34, Hudson said.
The charity is currently working to raise $1 million to create the house and is 40 percent toward their goal, according to Medford, who said she hopes the announcement of the partnership with the hospital will spur fundraising for the new house.