{"id":310740,"date":"2026-03-03T09:22:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T09:22:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/310740\/"},"modified":"2026-03-03T09:22:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T09:22:19","slug":"tennessee-hospital-renamed-dolly-partons-childrens-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/310740\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee Hospital Renamed Dolly Parton’s Children’s Hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tThe nearly century-old East Tennessee Children\u2019s Hospital will now be known as the Dolly Parton Children\u2019s Hospital<\/a>. The institution is an independent, not-for-profit pediatric healthcare provider, certified as a Comprehensive Regional Pediatric Center and is state-certified.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cBeing fortunate to have grown up in the mountains of East Tennessee, I learned early on what it means to take care of one another,\u201d Parton said in a statement. \u201cEvery child deserves world-class care, wrapped in kindness and love. I\u2019m 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe hospital opened in Knoxville in 1937 and serves as the region\u2019s primary provider for pediatric services, according to a fact sheet a rep provided. The institution, which has had nonprofit status since 1952, treats infants, children, and teens \u201cregardless of their race, religion, or ability to pay.\u201d It employs more than 400 physicians and nearly 2,200 employees total, accounting for one of the largest employers in its region, and it reports an average of 435,000 patient encounters each year. It\u2019s one of a few healthcare systems not tied to a hospital that also treats adults.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThis is more than a name change,\u201d Matt Schaefer, President and CEO of Dolly Parton<\/a> Children\u2019s Hospital since 2020, said in a statement. \u201cWith Dolly\u2019s support, we are strengthening our mission to deliver world-class pediatric care to families, ensuring every child who walks through our doors receives the treatment they deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a video announcing why she chose to put her name on the hospital, Parton encouraged people to visit the hospital\u2019s website<\/a>, which has a link for donations, to support it. \u201cI hope that you\u2019ll join me in supporting this work,\u201d she said. \u201cI can\u2019t do it all myself, I\u2019m going to need you, so when we come together for our children, there\u2019s no limit to what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n

\n\tThe amount of Parton\u2019s investment in the hospital for the naming rights was not disclosed at the time of publication. When asked, Adam Cook, chief development and public affairs officer, told Rolling Stone: \u201cThis collaboration with Dolly will transform pediatric care for patients and families in this region for generations to come. That\u2019s invaluable. We are so excited to be Dolly Parton Children\u2019s Hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tParton, who is 80 and does not have children of her own, has long committed herself to children\u2019s wellbeing and happiness. In 1988, she launched the Dollywood Foundation<\/a> \u201cto inspire the children in her home county to achieve educational success,\u201d according to its website. In 1995, she founded the Imagination Library<\/a>, which provides children in East Tennessee with books. In 2016, she wrote a children\u2019s book, Coat of Many Colors,<\/a> and the next year, she released a children\u2019s album, I Believe in You<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The nearly century-old East Tennessee Children\u2019s Hospital will now be known as the Dolly Parton Children\u2019s Hospital. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310741,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[42007,134,527,111,139,69],"class_list":{"0":"post-310740","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-dolly-parton","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-healthcare","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310740","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=310740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/310740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/310741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=310740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=310740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=310740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}