Stroudavarious Records artist Darryl Worley has long dreamed of opening a cancer treatment center in his hometown, and that dream is finally coming true. On Wednesday, March 3 at 10:00 a.m. CT, the groundbreaking ceremony of The Darryl Worley Cancer Treatment Center is set to take place in Savannah, TN.
In 2005, Worley and representatives of Hardin Medical Center and Hardin County Community and Healthcare Foundation joined forces to put a plan into action to open The Darryl Worley Cancer Treatment Center, which will now afford both radiation and chemotherapy treatment for cancer patients. The building will be located on the campus of Hardin Medical Center and is envisioned to allow cancer patients to receive therapy without the long drives currently required of many who need these treatments.
“It’s been our dream to build this cancer treatment center here in Hardin County for several years now, and the people of Hardin County and the West Tennessee area have done a lot to help make this dream a reality,” says Worley. “We have a really high cancer rate in our general area and all of our lives have been affected by the dreaded disease, so there is a lot of passion in this for everyone.”
“Having the capability to provide additional therapies here in Hardin County will save so many hours of traveling for patients,” says Hardin Medical Center CEO, Charlotte Burns. “I know it is this human side of combating cancer that has touched Darryl’s heart so deeply.”
Worley, who lost both of his grandfathers and one of his aunts to cancer, knows all too well the emotional and physical tolls it takes when a loved one has the disease. “I know what it cost when they had to go out of town for treatment,” Worley says. “I don’t want anyone else having to make those trips, adding to what they are already going through.”
The Darryl Worley Cancer Treatment Center has received a guaranteed maximum price of $2.0 million for construction of the building. The Hardin County Community and Healthcare Foundation, Inc. has taken on a mission of raising the construction costs, already raising over $1.6 million to date through donations and pledges. Of the money already raised, the singer’s own charity, The Darryl Worley Foundation, has made a $600,000 donation to the cause.
