Care closer to home
Published on June 7th, 2019 by Christina Echegaray.
Summer 2019
Support from the community has enabled Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt to expand the hospital’s pediatric specialty services into Rutherford County with a new 37,500-square-foot facility — Vanderbilt Children’s Surgery and Clinics — which is slated to open in the coming year.
Featuring 22 multispecialty clinic rooms, after-hours services, operating rooms, imaging capabilities and audiology booths, this addition in Murfreesboro will further Children’s Hospital’s mission to make expert, compassionate care available to all children.
“Many of the children and families who seek our specialty care and outpatient surgical care at Children’s Hospital live in Rutherford and surrounding counties,” said John W. Brock III, MD, senior vice president of Pediatric Surgical Services, surgeon-in-chief, director of the Division of Pediatric Urology and Monroe Carell Jr. Professor. “This new facility will allow families in this fast-growing area to receive the same level of care that has made Children’s Hospital the only children’s hospital in the state to be ranked in 10 out of 10 pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report.”
The Christy-Houston Foundation helped make this project possible by providing a $500,000 grant for construction.
“The opportunity to collaborate with Children’s Hospital to locate access close to home in Rutherford County to nationally ranked pediatric specialty care creates a positive addition to the local health care landscape,” said Anne Davis, CFRE, president of The Christy-Houston Foundation. “This addition supports our mission to improve the quality of life for Rutherford County residents, with special emphasis on our youngest residents.”
Kitty Murfree, a Murfreesboro civic leader, philanthropist and longtime supporter of Vanderbilt University Medical Center, also pledged a cornerstone gift to help fund the project.
“Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt has had a very special place in my heart since I was 26 years old,” said Murfree. “I am so excited that the world-class services of Children’s Hospital will now be available in our community of Murfreesboro. This new facility will ease the burden for families, reducing the amount of time sick and injured children have to spend in the car on the way to and from appointments.”
– by Paige Turner
