Earlier this year, the East Tennessee Children’s Hospital became the Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital. The country icon might be all glitz and glam, but her contribution to the health center goes far beyond an applauding namesake. In a recent interview with the Chief Healthcare Executive, the hospital’s president and CEO, Matt Schaefer, acknowledged the considerable funding Parton has put forward.
“What I can tell you is that she has made a generational and transformational commitment to Children’s and its mission,” Schaefer said, “and that commitment is something that goes beyond our wildest expectations, that is beyond generous, and will be a lifeline for this mission for now and for years to come. And we’re excited about and humbled by her willingness to do so.”
Schaefer declined to specify the amount of Parton’s donation, but noted that the contribution “positions this organization and the community around us in a really enviable and exciting place.” The funding will be divided across multiple focus points to benefit the children receiving treatment and the physicians providing those services.
“Children and families don’t need to leave this community for high-quality care,” he continued. “Some of those fall in the neuroscience space, particularly around epilepsy. There’s a depth and breadth of services relative to pediatric gastroenterology, pediatric ENT in particular, that we don’t have the capacity that we need to care for this community in the broadest sense possible.”
Schaefer is also hoping Parton’s name will help draw more interest in “things like residency recruitment and train pediatricians, as we recruit talent to this region, and I hope that’s a big part of how Dolly coming alongside our mission helps us do more than we could have in any imaginable way,” he says.
When the hospital was renamed in February, Parton shared a statement that expressed her excitement about supporting the community she grew up in. “Being fortunate to have grown up in the mountains of East Tennessee, I learned early on what it means to take care of one another,” Parton said. “Every child deserves world-class care, wrapped in kindness and love. I’m so honored to stand alongside this hospital and do my part to help bring more hope, more comfort and more healing to children and families.”
As Schaefer looks ahead to the future of the hospital and the care it will provide to children, it is illuminated by Parton’s involvement. “To have the halo effect of everything she stood for in her life, including her love for children in particular, it just is fantastic for the future of our mission,” he said.
