Alyce G. Clarke Center for Medically Fragile Children opens with ribbon-cutting ceremony

Alyce G. Clarke Center for Medically Fragile Children opens with ribbon-cutting ceremony

Children with complex medical needs now have a home away from home. The ribbon was cut today on the Alyce G. Clarke Center for Medically Fragile Children in Jackson.

The Children's of Mississippi facility, located about two and a half miles from the main University of Mississippi Medical Center Campus at 3853 Eastwood Drive in Jackson, will provide around-the-clock skilled nursing care to children with medically complex conditions.

State, city and medical leaders watch as, from left, Sen. Josh Harkins; Dr. Mary Taylor, Suzan B. Thames Chair and professor of pediatrics; former Gov. Phil Bryant and wife Deborah; former Rep. Alyce G. Clarke; Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs; Speaker of the House Jason White; and Dr. Alan Jones, associate vice chancellor for health affairs; cut the ribbon on the Alyce G. Clarke Center for Medically Fragile Children.

Children's of Mississippi is the pediatric arm of UMMC that includes the state's only children's hospital and primary and specialty clinics across the state.

The Mississippi Legislature named the facility for Clarke, a former state representative and the first African American woman to serve in the state legislature, to honor her decades of service.

The $15.9 million facility has two wings, each with a shared area that serves as a living room space.

Woodward

"It's been a journey to get to this place," said Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs. "The first meeting I attended about this was 15 years ago. Over time, the concept changed, and I think we have landed in just the right place. The journey has been worth it."

Patients at the 20-bed center will range from newborns who may not have been able to wean off ventilators to adolescents 19 or younger recovering from accidents or living with congenital or genetic conditions that require skilled nursing care. Some patients may be dependent on technology such as ventilators or feeding tubes to survive and may rely on wheelchairs.

Clarke, center, smiles as former Mississippi First Lady Bryant, left, and Woodward, right, cut the ribbon on the Alyce G. Clarke Center for Medically Fragile Children.

In 2019, the legislature issued $12.5 million in bonds to the center, and an additional $2 million in bonds were issued in 2020.

Ground was broken on the project in December 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic slowed the project, but construction began in spring 2024.

Jones

"It took a whole team of people from the entire state of Mississippi to come together to get this beautiful building built," said Dr. Alan Jones, associate vice chancellor for health affairs, noting the many governmental and medical leaders as well as philanthropists who helped throughout the center's planning, construction and opening. "This building and the people who staff it will deliver life-changing care."

The center will also be a place where parents can learn how to care for their medically fragile children before taking them home, said Dr. Mary Taylor, Suzan B. Thames Chair and professor of pediatrics.

Taylor

"The Alyce G. Clarke Center is so much more than a building," she said. "It represents hope, and we are so proud that this is going to be a new home for children with special needs. The medical care they need will be provided here, and also supportive care for their families."

The center is also a bridge from pediatric inpatient care to home for patients and their parents.

"This center will be able to provide medical care for these special children and education for their families in learning to care for them, but it will be a safe, warm place that will feel like home," she said.

Woodward recalled a conversation with Brandy Wilson, the nurse manager of the center. "She said, 'The children deserve this, and I think that sums it up beautifully. The children deserve it."