Century Club Charities breaks record with Children's donation

Tuesday, January 19

Century Club Charities, host of the state's only PGA TOUR event, broke its own record in philanthropy for a seventh consecutive year with its donation from the 2020 tournament to Friends of Children's Hospital. The gift will go toward Friends' pledge to the Campaign for Children's of Mississippi.

Patient care begins today in Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower

Monday, November 2

The day dreamt of is now here: the opening of the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower at Children’s of Mississippi. The first patients arrived for surgical care just before dawn, with imaging and clinical care patients following later in the morning. The tower’s 32 private pediatric intensive care rooms and 88 private neonatal intensive care rooms open Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

Regions Bank makes $225k donation to Sanderson Tower

Thursday, October 22

Regions Bank presented the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi with a $225,000 gift to help fund the Kathy and Joe Sanderson Tower. The expansion, a complement to the Blair E. Batson Tower of the state’s only children’s hospital, will open for patient care Nov. 2 at UMMC.

Ribbon cut on Kathy And Joe Sanderson Tower at Children’s Of Mississippi

Tuesday, October 13

The snip of a ribbon adorned with the colorful Children’s of Mississippi logo this morning signaled the beginning of a new era of pediatric care in the state.

Trustmark contributes $500K for new pediatric expansion

Monday, August 3

UMMC and Children’s of Mississippi leaders thanked Trustmark Monday for its longtime support and its $500,000 gift to the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi, which will help the seven-story children’s hospital expansion open this fall. The campaign has raised 81 percent of its $100 million goal.

Benson Charitable Foundation makes $1M gift to Children’s Of Mississippi

Thursday, September 26

Children will soon be playing in a space that will be a reminder of the regional impact of the foundation headed by New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson. The Medical Center announced the gift, which will help bring Children’s of Mississippi’s seven-story expansion to completion, during a news conference Thursday. The donation will also create a playground named in honor of Sanderson Farms, the title sponsor of the golf tournament that has raised millions of dollars to benefit the state’s only children’s hospital.

Little hearts, many experts: Children’s Heart Center grows to meet needs

Monday, September 23

Mississippi children who need heart surgery and other cardiac care have never had so many experts by their side. Pediatric cardiology at Children’s of Mississippi is growing as its new home, a seven-story children’s hospital expansion, is under construction. The need is great: About one in 100 babies is born with a heart defect.

Anatomy of change: Pull-schedule session starts peds tower transition

Thursday, August 15

UMMC’s pediatric expansion is scheduled to open in fall 2020, but plans for moving into the state-of-the-art facility are being made now. Leaders from among Children’s of Mississippi and UMMC are working to identify and coordinate key tasks that will help orchestrate a seamless transition that will make the most of the new seven-story tower.

UMMC pediatric expansion grows to full seven-story height

A construction beam covered with signatures, gratitude and wishes in a rainbow of Sharpie ink colors rose to the top of the seven-story pediatric addition last Thursday during "Growing Up Together," a topping-out ceremony in what will be the Children's Hospital lobby. The pediatric expansion project is set to open in fall 2020.

Maternal Fetal Medicine brings care team together for mothers, babies

Monday, June 17

Mothers and babies facing health risks have UMMC experts by their side. Through the Center for Maternal and Fetal Care, experts across disciplines work as a team to provide mothers with a healthy birthing experience and babies with the care they need to have their best start in life.

Photos: Colorful sigs make patients, providers part of peds expansion

Monday, June 10

A rainbow-colored beam-signing party last Thursday kicked off preparations for "Growing Up Together," a celebration of UMMC’s seven-story pediatric expansion's topping off. The beam will remain in the Rainbow Garden before the June 27 ceremony, to be followed by a fundraising reception at the Railroad District in downtown Jackson.

New CNO brings hospital expansion experience to Children’s of Mississippi

Monday, May 6

Children’s of Mississippi’s new chief nursing and clinical services officer has served some of the nation’s leading children’s hospitals in Phoenix, Atlanta and Temple, Texas. Her experience with expansion projects will be invaluable as UMMC progresses toward the fall 2020 opening of a pediatric hospital addition.

Children’s Heart growth, leadership attract second pediatric heart surgeon

Monday, April 1

The Children’s Heart Center now has two surgeons ready to perform congenital heart procedures. Having trained Dr. Mohammed Ghanamah during his children’s congenital heart surgery fellowship at Emory, Dr. Brian Kogon, chief of pediatric cardiothoracic surgery, said he knows Ghanamah will be a great addition.

Child's prayer leads to $1.5M Children's of Mississippi expansion gift

Thursday, March 15

Spotting the Children’s of Mississippi logo atop Batson Children’s Hospital, Cece Stansell began praying for the patients under that rainbow on her way to school each day. The 7-year-old’s concern inspired her family to donate $1.5 million toward the expansion of pediatric care at UMMC.

O'Donnell's $1M gift to benefit new PICU cardiac wing

Thursday, December 14

A tour of Batson Children’s Hospital was all it took for Dave and Priscilla O’Donnell to pledge $1 million to the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi to create a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit Cardiac Wing in the new children’s tower. Construction of the tower is set to start later this month.

Work May Begin Soon on Mississippi Children's Hospital Wing

USNEWS.COM — Work could begin by the end of the year on a $180 million expansion of the University of Mississippi Medical Center's hospital for children, officials said Tuesday...

At Batson Hospital’s 20th anniversary, Children’s of Mississippi reaching to future with construction

Monday, May 22

Honoring the past while looking to the future, Batson Children's Hospital is marking its 20^th anniversary this week while planning for future construction.

The state's only children's hospital opened its doors 20 years ago with a dedication ceremony May 16, 1997, and has provided care to thousands of ill and injured children since. Building on its history, Children's of Mississippi has construction plans that will ensure that the state's children have access to state-of-the-art care far into the future.  

“Children's of Mississippi includes the only pediatric hospital in Mississippi, and it serves as a lifeline for so many families,” said Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the University of Mississippi School of Medicine. “For the sake of these children, we have to continue the momentum established through our first two decades.”

At the urging of the Medical Center's first chair of pediatrics, Dr. Blair E. Batson, UMMC's first children's hospital opened in 1968. The 100-bed round structure, at the time, was considered to be state of the art. The rooms were small, though, and not designed for parents to stay with their children.

UMMC philanthropist among Children’s of Mississippi campaign supporters

Monday, March 27

Robbie Hughes recently made a generous gift to the University of Mississippi Medical Center, specifically to the Children's of Mississippi $100 million capital campaign.

In early 2015, Hughes and her late husband Dudley made a gift of $2 million to endow the faculty chair for the Memory Impairment and Neurodegenerative Dementia (MIND) Center, a cause near to their hearts since Dudley suffered from dementia. Hughes has requested the amount of the gift to The Campaign for Children's of Mississippi be kept confidential.

Thankful Triplett siblings make $1 million gift to children's campaign

Thursday, March 16

Liz Triplett Walker has always had strong ties to the University of Mississippi Medical Center and Children's of Mississippi  She spent 13 years at UMMC as an oncology social worker, volunteers with Friends of Children's Hospital, a nonprofit organization created to benefit Batson Children's Hospital, and is a member of UMMC Candlelighters, a group that offers support for families with children undergoing cancer treatment.

When her then-4-year-old son Felton was diagnosed with a neuromuscular disease at Batson Children's Hospital in the fall of 2010, the connection between UMMC and Walker and her four siblings became closer, and led the family to make a $1 million gift to the Campaign for Children's of Mississippi.

The campaign seeks to raise $100 million in philanthropic donations to fund a portion of the project that will update and expand pediatric care at UMMC, including construction of a new neonatal intensive care unit, updating and expanding the pediatric intensive care unit, adding more operating suites, creating an imaging center just for children and building a pediatric outpatient clinic adjacent to Batson.

Friends of Children's Hospital pledges $20 million to capital campaign

Tuesday, August 9

The Children's of Mississippi capital campaign is a third of the way to its $100 million goal.

Friends of Children's Hospital, a nonprofit group dedicated to raising funds for Batson Children's Hospital, has committed to raising $20 million over the next 10 years to go toward the fund, which will help the Medical Center expand and update its space dedicated to pediatric care. The campaign, chaired by Joe and Kathy Sanderson, was started in April with a personal $10 million pledge from the Sanderson Farms chairman and CEO and his wife.

“Friends of Children's Hospital is extremely proud of the $17 million we've raised since 1989 and the impact that it's had on improving health care for Mississippi's children,” said Sara Ray, board chair of the group. “We were among the first on board when the Medical Center needed support to build Batson Children's Hospital in 1997 and have contributed annually ever since to enhance the patient and family experience.

Eli, Abby Manning pledge $1M to Children's of Mississippi's 'Growing' capital campaign

Tuesday, September 6

A winning play for the health of Mississippi's children was announced today as Eli and Abby Manning made a personal pledge of $1 million to the Children's of Mississippi $100 million capital campaign.

The couple, who will be lending their names and faces to publicity for the campaign, are honorary chairs and will be serving on the campaign fundraising committee.

Eli, the University of Mississippi alumnus who has quarterbacked the New York Giants to two Super Bowl victories has already scored for pediatric care at the University of Mississippi Medical Center once before, raising more than $2.5 million in partnership with Friends of Children's Hospital to open the Eli Manning Children's Clinics at Batson Children's Hospital. The clinics opened in 2009.

$100M Children’s of Mississippi campaign starts with $10M Sanderson gift

Monday, April 25

Joe and Kathy Sanderson are chairing a $100 million fundraising campaign for Children's of Mississippi, the umbrella organization that includes all pediatric care at UMMC and Batson Children's Hospital.

Leading by doing, the CEO and chairman of the board of Sanderson Farms and his wife are not only heading up the drive, the largest in the history of Children's of Mississippi, but they are also making the campaign's first large gift: $10 million over the next five years.

“This is a wonderful day for the medical center,” said Dr. LouAnn Woodward, UMMC vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine.