NASHVILLE (AP) — Discount retailer Dollar General has given $1 million to the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt University to help fund a 33-bed expansion project.

Vanderbilt said in a statement Thursday that the funds will directly benefit the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, which cares for sick and preterm infants and admits about 1,300 critically ill newborns each year.

Rick Dreiling, chairman and CEO of the Goodlettsville, Tenn.-based company, said Dollar General is proud to invest in the hospital's 30,000-square-foot expansion to help increase its capacity to serve the youngest and most vulnerable members of the community.