‘It is more than just a name change’: Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital officially opens new chapter
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – East Tennessee Children’s Hospital is now officially called Dolly Parton Children’s Hospital, with Parton herself announcing the change.
Hospital CEO and President Matt Schaefer said the partnership grew out of years of connection and a shared focus on supporting children.
“It’s an exciting start to a new era that takes 90 years of amazing history and combines that with a generational figure in our community,” Schaefer said. “Someone who wants to give back, someone who’s made a generational commitment to our mission of serving patients and families for years and years and years to come.”
Hospital leaders say the care families receive will not change. The same physicians, specialties and level of care will continue under the new name.
Schaefer said the renaming reflects a deeper alignment between the hospital’s mission and Parton’s lifelong commitment to children, including her Imagination Library program.
“It is more than just a name change,” Schaefer said. “It is a mindset shift for us combined with Dolly’s name to amplify the same mission. We’ve always had the same great physicians, same great care — new collaborative relationship to expand that with even greater impact in heart for years to come.”
The hospital has served East Tennessee for nearly 90 years and now treats nearly half a million patients each year.
LeeAnne Traylor, a mother of two who has brought her children to the hospital multiple times, said the Parton name carries weight in the community.
“The Dolly name — she carries just like a positive impact wherever she goes, so I think more people might have a positive impact,” Traylor said. She added that the quality of care has kept her coming back. “I’ve always had really great care whenever I go there. I feel comfortable going there. I feel confident going there as well.”
Schaefer said that trust is the foundation the hospital plans to build on.
“Hospitals are scary places. They’re scary places for adults, even more so for children,” Schaefer said. “I hope when families walk through the door here, they feel love. They feel support. They feel comfort.”
New signage will appear gradually throughout the system over the coming months. A community celebration is planned for later this year.
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