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$180 Million Project Partially Funded Through Private Giving
Those breaking ground on a new seven-story, 340-square-foot children's tower included, front, from left, Dr. LouAnn Woodward, First Lady Deborah Bryant, Gov. Phil Bryant, Megan Bell and daughter Avery Bell, Joe Sanderson Jr., Kathy Sanderson, Dr. Mary Taylor, Guy Giesecke and Doris Whitaker.

For Megan Bell, having pediatric specialists close to home means one thing: her daughter’s life.

“Without this place, we wouldn’t have Avery. We would have lost her,” said Bell of Pearl, Mississippi.

Bell family members were among those helping break ground Friday morning for a new $180 million children’s tower adjacent to Batson Children’s Hospital. The facility will include new space for neonatal and pediatric intensive care, more operating suites and an imaging center for pediatric patients. Also part of the project is a new outpatient clinic for pediatric specialists, and Avery sees quite a few of them.

Born with the chromosomal condition Turner’s Syndrome in 2009, Avery was diagnosed with a related congenital heart defect. She was taken to Batson Children’s Hospital for surgery at one week old.

“The doctors, nurses and various staff members at Batson always explained everything and were kind and loving to us through it all,” Bell said. “The nurses deemed Avery the ‘Princess of the PICU’ because she was the tiniest and toughest of patients at that time. At Batson, we always felt like Avery was a top priority, and we feel the care she received gave her the quickest and best recovery she could have experienced.”

Now 8, Avery attends Northside Elementary and loves gymnastics, singing, dancing and playing with siblings Bryce and Milly Jean and friends.

“Knowing Avery can receive the specialized care she needs in our hometown gives us great comfort as parents,” Bell said. “We are very thankful for our state’s only children’s hospital, and we literally don’t know where we’d be without it.”

The seven-story, 340,000-square-foot tower’s opening is planned for August 2020.

Children’s of Mississippi leaders anticipate recruiting 30-40 new physicians in the next five years as the facility is built and after it is opened, since it will provide additional capacity. At a minimum, about 50-75 staff positions, not including physicians, would be added after construction.

“We have outstanding physicians and the best staff, and they have a passion for caring for patients,” said Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine. “What we need now are the facilities to match that quality of care. The time has come for a transformation.”

The construction is funded in part through the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi, a philanthropic effort launched in 2016 with co-chairs Joe Sanderson Jr., board chairman and CEO of Sanderson Farms, and his wife Kathy making a personal $10 million pledge.

Friends of Children’s Hospital, a nonprofit dedicated to raising funds for Batson Children’s Hospital, followed that with a $20 million pledge later that year.

Children’s of Mississippi is the umbrella organization that includes Batson Children’s Hospital and all UMMC pediatric care throughout the state.

The Campaign has raised more than $60 million toward its $100 million goal so far, a result Woodward calls “an outpouring of love and support that runs deep and wide across all of Mississippi.”

“The fact that this groundbreaking is happening less than two years after the launch of the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi shows how much we as Mississippians value our children and their health and how generous the people of this state are,” Joe Sanderson said. “We have a world-class medical team here, but they do not have resources to match their skill. The opening of this children’s tower will mean better outcomes for our children, but also better research, more top doctors coming to Mississippi and more jobs.

“This project is not just for the children who need it today,” he said. “It’s for future generations and is part of a strategic long-term plan for Mississippi’s future.”

Said Kathy Sanderson: “When we see the completed children’s tower, and walk through its doors the first time, I think the emotions will be overwhelming. All of the children in our state can come to this hospital and get the kind of care that any parent or grandparent would want for their children.”

“I’m from Mississippi, and this hospital means more to me than you know,” said Natchez native Dr. Mary Taylor, professor, Suzan B. Thames Chair of Pediatrics at UMMC, and chair of the Department of Pediatrics. “This new hospital tower will be transformational. This is what the children of Mississippi need and what the children of Mississippi deserve.”

To make a tax-deductible gift to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, contact the UMMC Office of Development at 601-984-2300 or https://www.umc.edu/givenow/. If making a donation by check, please mail your gift to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Office of Development, 2500 N. State St., Jackson MS 39216.

By Annie Oeth, UMMC Public Affairs

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