Trustmark contributes $500K for new pediatric expansion

Published on Monday, August 3, 2020

By: Annie Oeth, aoeth@umc.edu

Trustmark presented $500,000 to the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi to help fund the new pediatric expansion at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

A Mississippi-based financial services company and longtime ally of children’s health, Trustmark unveiled the gift Monday in the lobby of the hospital before properly-masked guests visited the seven-story expansion that will open this fall.

The Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi is the $100 million philanthropic effort to fund the completion of the expansion, which will more than double the square-footage of Mississippi’s only children’s hospital.

“Like many in our community, Trustmark views the Children’s Hospital of Mississippi as a beacon of hope and healing for families across our state,” said Jerry Host, Trustmark Chief Executive Officer. “As a company who is committed to supporting health care in Mississippi, we are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Children’s of Mississippi and know our support will enable medical professionals to continue serving our children and families in our state.”

Trustmark has a long history of supporting children’s health in Mississippi through financial resources and associate volunteerism. By hosting events such as the Trustmark Pro-Am Golf Tournament, Over the Edge with Friends, and many other fundraising events throughout the years, Trustmark has had first-hand experience in supporting the mission of the hospital. In addition, Trustmark is a Tournament Partner for the Sanderson Farms Championship, the state’s only PGA TOUR event, which has raised more than $7.6 million to support Children’s of Mississippi.

Sanderson Farms CEO and Chairman of the Board, Joe Sanderson Jr., who chairs the Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi with his wife, Kathy, thanked Trustmark for the bank’s commitment to the state’s children and their families.

“By making this significant gift, Trustmark is showing its leadership and its values,” Sanderson said. “We are so grateful for their generosity and dedication to the health of our children, and we hope others in Mississippi’s business community will join with us to support Mississippi’s only children’s hospital and the exceptional care it provides.”

The seven-story hospital expansion will include two floors of private neonatal intensive care rooms, an imaging center designed for children, and 12 new state-of-the-art surgical suites, that will be available for inpatient and outpatient surgeries. The new tower will also include 32 larger private pediatric intensive care rooms, which will provide more space for medical professionals, equipment, patients and families.

For follow-up care from Children’s of Mississippi physicians, the tower will also include an outpatient specialty clinic and a 517-space parking garage that will be located close by for easy access.

“It’s very nice to have good news to share,” said Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, wearing a face mask during the announcement. “It may not be obvious, but we are all smiles under these masks. This expansion is at budget and on time, and construction is going well.”

“This expansion will be transformational in the care of Mississippi’s children,” she said. “We are so grateful to Trustmark for their continued support and for their generosity in making this gift.”

Dr. Mary Taylor, Suzan B. Thames Chair, professor and chair of Pediatrics, said help from community partners has taken the expansion from an idea to a nearly complete children’s hospital tower.

“A goal as large and as important to our state’s future as this one requires all of us working together,” Taylor said. “Thanks to philanthropy from Trustmark and so many others, we will soon have a pediatric hospital that matches the skills of our experts.”