J.B. Hunt to give $5 million to Arkansas Children's Northwest

J.B. Hunt Transportation Services will donate $5 million to Arkansas Children's Northwest in Springdale to help with current expenses and future capital expansion costs, the company and hospital announced Thursday.

• The company will give $1 million a year for five years.

Why it matters: ACNW keeps many kids from having to travel to Arkansas Children's Hospital or out of state for specialized care, such as chemotherapy. However, the Springdale hospital does not offer the scale of services that the Little Rock hospital does.

The money will help ACNW become an "anchor pediatric institution," Shannon Porter, spokesperson at Arkansas Children's Foundation, tells Axios.

• ACNW plans to use the donation on initiatives like increasing acuity level of care and workforce recruitment and retention.

Flashback: J.B. Hunt contributed $5 million to Children's in 2016 to help construct the hospital, which opened in 2018.

Context: Yesterday we told you about how the area in south Springdale just west of Interstate 49 is becoming a health care hub. See today's story No. 5 for further proof.

Our thought bubble: ACNW's expansion aspirations shouldn't come as a surprise — the hospital has been vocal about the need for more medical services for kids in NWA.

• Over the past few years, the hospital has announced plans to expand oncology and hematology services, developed a sports medicine program and added more doctors, such as neurologists, cardiologists and an endocrinologist.