Trustmark donates $500,000 to Children’s of Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) -Trustmark Bank donates $500,000 to Children’s of Mississippi.

The Campaign for Children’s of Mississippi is hosting a philanthropic drive to help cover the cost of expansion currently underway at Children’s.

UMMC Vice-Chancellor Dr. LouAnn Woodward said the donation will help with the expansion and it’s beneficial to the entire state.

“This is one of the biggest deals that’s happened for Mississippi in a long time,” Woodward said. “When this expansion is open, we will have facilities that match the expertise that we have, and that will be a point of pride for all of Mississippi.”

Trustmark CEO Jerry Host spoke about why it continues to support Children’s of Mississippi.

“Not just here in Mississippi, but throughout our 5-state footprint, we’ve had a series of contests and campaigns to help raise money over the years to support children’s hospital,” Host said. “Just as children’s hospital is going to primarily support children in our state, it is also open to children from other states, and I think it’s important that we have a world-class hospital here.”

UMMC Chair of the Department of Pediatrics, Dr. Mary B. Taylor, shared details on what the expansion will include.

“The hospital will have a new imaging center specifically for children, with special machines that for example, look like a spaceship or pirate ship that children don’t have to get sedation to get an MRI,” Taylor said. “We’ll have a new cardiac ICU-so 32 new beds for pediatric ICU, two complete floors of beds for the neonatal intensive care unit. So, that would be another 92 beds specifically for newborns. We also have a huge ambulatory care center for sub-specialty care, so children can come here and get all their care in one spot and not have to move around to multiple locations.”