fort sanders sevier break ground with special guest

Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center Celebrates new hospital with groundbreaking

Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center broke ground on their new medical campus Monday, May 21, 2007

The $110 million dollar project will feature a new 200,000 square foot hospita,.The Sevier County branch of Thompson Cancer Survival Center, and a medical office building.

Monday's celebration took place on the future medical center site, across the street from the current hospital on Middle Creek Rd. Surprise guest, Sevier County native Dolly Parton, joined Covenant Health officials and friends of the hospital to break ground on the new facility.

The new medical facility will feature a much larger Emergency Department. The current Emergency Room was built to treat 17,000 patients annually, but currently serves more than 41,000 people each year. The future hospital will also include all private patient rooms (many with beautiful mountain views), a step- down unit for patients that are ready to be moved from intensive care unit but need more extensive monitoring than our medical unit provides, plus other expanded amenities and services for Fort Sanders Sevier patients and families.

The new hospital is expected to be completed in the fall of 2009. Covenant Health CEO Tony Spezia also announced a building on the new medical campus that will be named after the hometown sweetheart, Dolly Parton. A rendering of the "Dolly Parton Center for Woman's Services" was unveiled by Spezia, Ellen Wilhoit, President/CAO Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center, and Ms. Parton.

Renderings were also unveiled for the new Medical Center, Thompson Cancer Survival Center, and Medical Office Building. The new medical center is being supported with donations from the community, through donations to the hospital foundation.

Counrty music star Dolly Parton has contributed $500,000 to the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation in support of this project, from Dollywood and Dixie Stampede. The proceeds from her weekend benefit concert will be added to the donation. Parton is the honorary chair of the Dr. Robert F. Thomas Foundation. Dr. Robert F. Thomas was a county doctor who served as a minister and family physician in early Sevier County.

Dolly Parton is one of the thousands of babies he delivered and she memorialized his work in a song bearing his name. Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center is a 79-bed acute care hospital and a 54- bed nursing home that has been serving the healthcare needs of Sevier County residents and visitors since 1965. Fort Sanders Sevier Medical Center is a member of Covenant Health, East Tennessee's largest not-for-profit health system, providing the right care, right here.