Dolly Parton gave $100,000 toward a healing garden at a hospital in her mother’s South Carolina hometown; the completed space gives patients and families a quiet place outside the wards

A new $55 million medical facility in South Carolina includes a special outdoor retreat built with a $100,000 donation from country music star Dolly Parton. The gift also honours her family's roots in the local area. The new Union Medical Center, part of the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, marked its opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The hospital was built on a 48-acre site along Furman L. Fendley Highway. One of its main features is an outdoor healing garden. It offers a peaceful, open-air space for patients recovering from illness, visiting families and hospital staff. Parton's donation went directly to the facility's Patient Enhancement Project, which paid for the garden's construction and landscaping. The space gives people a quiet place to rest away from hospital wards and treatment rooms.Deep family roots in Union CountyAlthough Parton is widely linked to the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, her family history is closely tied to Union County, South Carolina. Her mother, Avie Lee Owens Parton, was born in the nearby town of Lockhart on 5 October 1923. Local history records show that Avie Lee was the daughter of a local preacher. Parton has often described her mother as her first musical influence and a source of emotional support. According to local television station WLTX, these family ties led the singer and philanthropist to support the regional healthcare project. The donation was arranged through the Spartanburg Regional Foundation, which led the private fundraising effort to help pay for the new medical centre.Specialized space for patient recoveryThe healing garden was designed to extend the hospital's care spaces into the outdoors. It includes paved paths, outdoor seating, green spaces and quiet areas. These features are intended to help reduce stress for families dealing with medical emergencies and other health challenges. Medical staff and healthcare leaders at Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System highlighted the role of natural spaces in helping patients recover. According to the 2024 Spartanburg Regional Foundation Impact Report, the hospital was designed to offer a complete approach to healthcare. It brings modern emergency care and doctors' offices together under one roof, while also providing easy access to green spaces. The report noted that Parton was joined by other donors, including local community leader Barbara Rippy and J. Carlisle Oxner III. They provided significant financial support to improve the environment for patients at the new centre. During the hospital's opening events, Parton sent a personal message to hospital leaders and the Union community. She expressed her support for the staff and the patients who will use the new space.Broader philanthropic footprintThe $100,000 donation to Union Medical Center is part of Parton's wider record of charitable work in healthcare, education and disaster relief. According to official information on her philanthropy website, much of her charitable work is carried out through the Dollywood Foundation, which was established in 1988. The foundation runs the Imagination Library, a book-gifting programme that has sent more than 200 million free books to children from birth to age five. The programme operates across the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and the Republic of Ireland. Parton has also made major donations to medical institutions over several decades. In 2020, she donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Centre in Nashville, Tennessee. The money helped support early research and development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. She also funded the Hannah Dennison Center at East Tennessee Children's Hospital, named in honour of her niece, and supported research programmes focused on childhood cancer. The healing garden at Union Medical Center provides a lasting tribute to Parton's mother and her family's history in South Carolina. It will give future hospital visitors a peaceful place to spend time while receiving medical treatment or supporting loved ones.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.