Dolly Parton Announces East Tennessee Children’s Hospital Will Be Renamed After Her

The ever-so generous, Dolly Parton, has once again warmed our hearts with her generous contribution to East Tennessee’s Children’s Hospital. The facility will now be named Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital to reflect the comfortable, welcoming tone the hospital wishes to set for its patients and families. This is a part of an ongoing effort to enhance pediatric care in East Tennessee.

Christine Butler

The hospital located in Knoxville, Tennessee, announced on Thursday (2/25) that it would be renaming itself after the “Coat of Many Colors” singer. “I’ve always believed that every child deserves a fair chance to grow up healthy, hopeful, and surrounded with love,” shares Dolly. “For nearly 90 years, their team has provided compassionate and talented care. They see children not just as patients, but as precious lives. Each with a story, and a future.”

Parton was born and raised in Pittman Center, a rural town located in East Tennessee, less than twenty miles from her timeless theme park, Dollywood. Her constant efforts to help her Eastern Tennessee communities are limitless. She has raised millions for wildfire relief and repair as well as for her Imagination Library, seeking to bring free books to children across the globe, especially in low-income families and communities.

Buildings being named after the icon have also been an ongoing trend in recent years. This summer, the Tennessee truck stop in Cornersville, Tennessee, will be renamed after Parton. There have been ongoing efforts for almost a year now to rename Nashville International Airport (BNA) after Dolly as well. Now, Dolly Parton’s Children's Hospital is following.

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We can’t think of a better way to bring hope and joy to the children of the hospital than with something so simple as a name change. It is representative of the highest forms of hospitality and “the light of a clear, blue morning” for children and their families. Dolly continues to inspire us with her philanthropy, dedication, and the “love [that] is like a butterfly” she continues to bring

into this world.

See how Dolly Parton is continuing to make the world a better place.