Washington Regional To Include Areas First Ronald McDonald House

Northwest Arkansas’ first Ronald McDonald House will soon be operating inside the Washington Regional Medical Center in Fayetteville.

Hospital officials made the announcement Tuesday. The house will be located on the top floor of WRMC’s Women and Infants Center expansion, allowing families to stay just steps away from their hospitalized children.

It’s expected to serve approximately 1,500 families each year.

Construction of the five-story, 140,000-square-foot Women and Infants Center is scheduled to be done in the fall. The Ronald McDonald space at WRMC will be 5,600 SF and include six bedroom suites with full-sized, private baths, a playroom, a dining room, kitchen, fully stocked pantry, laundry room and living room.

The space is being designed by Studio 6 Architects of Fort Smith.

The house will be one of four programs operated by Ronald McDonald House Charities of Arkoma, founded in 1999 as the local chapter of Ronald McDonald House Charities Inc. It creates and supports programs in Northwest Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma and the River Valley.

The local chapter currently operates a Family Room (4 bedrooms) covering 3,600 SF on the third floor of Mercy Hospital in Rogers and a Family Room (4 bedrooms) covering 3,000 SF on the fourth floor of Mercy Hospital in Fort Smith.

The difference in the “family room” and “house” designation is based on the number of bedrooms.

The organization also operates a Ronald McDonald Care Mobile that provides comprehensive dental care at no charge to underserved children in a school-based setting. The program is made possible through a partnership with Arkansas Children’s Hospital, Tyson Foods Inc. and Delta Dental of Arkansas.