Submitted photo From left, Lisa Wood, Dr. Mary Boyd, Mel Knutti, Beth Knutti, Cindy Stemple, Marijane Kiley and Catherine Ritchie, members of the Elkins Woman’s Club, visited their Window of Hope at WVU Children’s Hospital NICU in Morgantown.

ELKINS — Six members of the Elkins Woman’s Club recently paid a visit to see the club’s Window of Hope at WVU Medicine Children’s Hospital NICU in Morgantown.

Strategically designed to bring natural light into a patient’s room for healing of both the child and their family, Windows of Hope offer the hope and dream of a future beyond their current situation.

The Elkins Woman’s Club agreed to a donation of $10,000 to the Children’s Hospital Building Fund, and to paying $2,000 per year for five years. The money for the window comes out of profits that the club makes on the Forest Festival Arts and Crafts Show at the Davis & Elkins College Gymnasium.

The Windows of Hope at the hospital are located in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit), the PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit), the Maternal and Infant Center, and the Pediatric Acute Care Unit.

On June 18, the six Elkins Woman’s Club members — Dr. Mary Boyd, Marijane Kiley, Mel Knutti, Beth Knutti, Catherine Ritchie, Cindy Stemple and Lisa Wood — were given a hospital tour by Ben Becze, Director of Development for WVU Children’s.

The members visited the NICU, the Maternal and Infant Center, the Hematology/Oncology Unit, and the Family Resource Center, where they met Atlas, the therapy dog.

“The first premature baby was saved at WVU Hospital in 1975. At that time there was one bed set aside in the adult ICU for the babies,” Boyd, a physician, said. “When I trained at WVU Hospital, there were eight beds in the NICU, but now there are 50 beds in the NICU! It is amazing!”

WVU Children’s Hospital is the only free standing Children’s Hospital in the state and provides maternal, infan, and pediatric care for West Virginia and the surrounding region. Every child and mother is treated regardless of ability to pay.

The 10-story tower has more than 150 beds, along with operating rooms, cardiac catheterization and endoscopy facilities. Outpatient clinics are also located in the tower.

You can find more information about the Elkins Woman’s Club by going to the GFWC Woman’s Club of Elkins Facebook page.

For more information about WVU Children’s Hospital, go online to childrens.wvumedicine.org.