Cabell Huntington Hospital Foundation Director of Development Kristi Arrowood updated Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce members on the progress of the Hoops Family Children’s Hospital currently under construction.

Arrowood was the keynote speaker at the Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce’s Fourth Friday Luncheon at Knights of Columbus in Ironton this past Friday.

“Lawrence County plays a tremendous role with Cabell Huntington Hospital,” Arrowood said. “In 2013 the hospital had 30,000 visits from residents of Lawrence County.”

Arrowood spent some time as the director of development for a private school in Huntington, W.Va., then spent 12 years as a consultant in different parts of the country. She returned to Huntington full-time as a consultant for Marshall University for eight and a half years before accepting her current position in October of 2013.

“The lives of both of my children were saved at Cabell Huntington Hospital,” she said. “My youngest son had brain surgery at age 5 and my other son was born with a collapsed lung. They were both born and taken care of at Cabell Huntington Hospital.”

Arrowood spoke about the hospital’s Proctorville Medical Center on the grounds of the Wyngate at RiversEdge Senior Living Community before beginning a slideshow highlighting the Hoops Family Children’s Hospital.

“It’s really a hospital in a hospital,” Arrowood said of the 71-bed $17 million facility. “We have 3,000 children a month come through Cabell Huntington’s doors.”

The children’s hospital will have 25 private rooms, 10 pediatric intensive care rooms, a play and community area, a treatment room and a comprehensive auxiliary corridor. Phase I of the project is complete.

Fundraising began in 2008 with an original target of $12 million. Roughly $13 million of the now $17 million goal has been raised. The entire project should be completed in 18-20 months.

The chamber welcomed new members Holiday Inn Express and Suites, J.D. Armory, Ponderosa South Point and Shield Roofing and Construction.

The Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce’s Fourth Friday Luncheon will go on hiatus in the months of July and August and will resume in September.