Walmart Foundation Donates $500,000 to Women and Infants Center
Walmart Foundation recently gave $500,000 to Washington Regional’s Women and Infants Center to help support an enhanced level of healthcare services for area families.
Walmart’s gift will go toward two patient wings – one each at the mother-baby area and the neonatal intensive care unit – at the hospital’s Women and Infants Center, which opened Nov. 14. The five-story 132,800-square-foot patient tower, located adjacent to the hospital and with access to all of its services, provides quality care for women at all stages of life.
The Women and Infants Center features a multidisciplinary medical team for expectant mothers, newborns and children. Patient rooms in the center, including the 28 private mother-baby rooms, feature amenities that enhance patient safety, comfort and convenience, ranging from an innovative nurse-call system to USB ports for patients’ digital devices. The NICU, with 34 beds, is the area’s largest and provides the highest level of care available in Northwest Arkansas for fragile newborns.
“Investing in the families and children in Northwest Arkansas is important to us,” said Erin Hogue, Senior Manager of Northwest Arkansas Giving for the Walmart Foundation. “As part of Walmart’s mission to help families save money and live better, we want to do everything we can to invest in the health and wellness of our local communities.”
Washington Regional CEO Bill Bradley said, “The Walmart Foundation is a longtime supporter of Washington Regional’s healthcare initiatives throughout Northwest Arkansas. We are grateful for the Walmart Foundation’s generous support of our mission to improve the health of people in the communities we serve, and for recognizing that the Women and Infants Center will improve access to care and offer greater convenience for Northwest Arkansas families.”
The Walmart Foundation meets the needs of the underserved by directing charitable giving toward three core areas of focus: opportunity, sustainability and community. Globally, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation gave $1.4 billion in cash and in-kind contributions in the fiscal year ending Jan. 31, 2015.