Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital names pediatric surgery center for Rascal Flatts
Rascal Flatts, from left, Jay DeMarcus, Joe Don Rooney, Gary LeVox, and Dr. Brock and CEO Luke Gregory of the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital show a replica of the sign designating the Rascal Flatts Surgery Center. (Joel Dennis photos)
In a special event Friday, the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tenn., named its pediatric surgery center after the superstar country music group Rascal Flatts, which includes Joe Don Rooney of Picher.
Through their hard work and generosity the band has combined to donate more than $3 million to the children’s hospital. The group’s contributions will allow the Rascal Flatts Surgery Center to include a new specialized radiology suite, which will further expand services offered to patients.
Rascal Flatts’ Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Rooney, who were honored Friday during a ceremony at the children’s hospital, also hosted a Halloween party with an intimate performance for patients and their families. The group also visited children room-to-room to deliver Halloween treats and prizes.
Friday’s special event marked the sixth consecutive year the band has visited the hospital and performed for the patients.
Rascal Flatts paid a special Halloween visit to the hospital. From left are Gary LeVox, Joe Don Rooney, Jay DeMarcus, Landon Graham and Landon’s mom.
The award-winning group said they were truly humbled by the hospital’s display of appreciation.
“We became involved with the work at children’s hospital so that children will continue to have a wonderful place to get better and to help their families move on with their lives,” said LeVox in a news release. “We have built some long-lasting relationships, not only with the staff, but with some of the kids and their parents as well.”
The Rascal Flatts Surgery Center will house all of the hospital’s existing and new surgical programs. More than 12,700 pediatric surgeries are performed each year at the hospital. Doctors conduct general and specialized surgeries on children, from infancy to adolescence, to address a myriad of congenital and acquired health conditions. The new radiology suite will be used for challenging surgical procedures such as liver transplants and difficult abdomen and chest infections.
“We are honored by the extraordinary philanthropic commitment of Rascal Flatts to our patients and families at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt,” said Jonathan Gitlin, M.D., James C. Overall Professor and chair of the Department of Pediatrics, in the release. “The clinical work done in this new radiology suite permits us for the first time through the generosity of Rascal Flatts to make discoveries in the science of patient care that will bring new hope to children in Nashville, Middle Tennessee and across America.”
A sign that bears the group’s name was unveiled today, which marks the entrance to the Rascal Flatts Surgery Center on the third floor of the children’s hospital.
“All parents and children who enter the area will walk under the Rascal Flatts sign, but the words we write will never adequately express what they have done and how people like them, as well as others, allow us to do what we do,” said John W. Brock III, M.D., surgeon in chief of the children’s hospital, in the release. “I continue to be amazed, as I have told them, by their level of commitment to this hospital.”
About Rascal Flatts:
Rascal Flatts’ Gary LeVox, Jay DeMarcus and Joe Don Rooney are celebrating 10 years of music this year and will release a new album on Nov. 16, “Nothing Like This.” During this time they’ve become one of the hottest touring acts and the top country group of the new millennium. The band has delivered 11 No. 1 singles to the top of the charts and has more titles in Billboard’s Top 100 Songs of the Decade than any other group in the format. In the past 10 years, the band has sold more than 20 million albums and 25 million digital downloads while all six of their studio albums make Billboard’s Top 100 Country Albums of the Decade listing. As the most awarded country group of the new millennium, Rascal Flatts has brought home nearly 40 trophies from the Academy of Country Music, American Music Awards, Country Music Association, People’s Choice Awards and more.
For additional information on Rascal Flatts go to www.rascalflatts.com.
-BAM
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