McDreamy's Big Medical Give

Patrick Dempsey was in front of the cameras at a hospital Monday, but it wasn't Seattle Grace. The actor was announcing his plans for a cancer center at Central Maine Medical Center - the actual hospital where he was born - to open March 31. The center, to be named Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing, was inspired by the actor's mother's fight against cancer, he told the Kennebec Journal. Amanda Dempsey has been treated for ovarian cancer several times in the past decade at the Medical Center, and is now free of the disease. When she was diagnosed, however, Dempsey recalled being "overwhelmed" in his search for information about the illness, and wanted to set up a resource center - offering everything from logistical to emotional support - for patients and their caregivers. Dempsey's new center will be run by his sister Mary, who works at CMMC. The actor was able to make plans for its opening when Grey's Anatomy was on hiatus during the WGA strike. And although the star-quality of the center's name is already an attention-getter, Dempsey said it "would be hollow if it doesn't make people's lives better." - Anna Dimond