Dr. McDreamy is making a real-life contribution to health care.
Patrick Dempsey was in his home state of Maine Monday to announce the opening of a new center to benefit cancer patients at Central Maine Medical Center.
The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing is slated to open Mar. 31 and will provide education and support programs for cancer patients and their families.
Dempsey, 42, put up a seed grant for the center, which he created in honor of his mother, Amanda, who was successfully treated for ovarian cancer at the hospital and is now in remission.
The Grey's Anatomy star said he remembered not knowing where to turn when his mother was diagnosed with cancer 10 years ago.
"For a family to get a cancer diagnosis is devastating, and all the information out there can be overwhelming," Dempsey said at a press conference Monday. "A lot of the websites I went to just didn't have enough information.
"So, I talked to my sister about a place where people could go for all this type of information and help. Knowledge is power."
Dempsey's sister, Mary, works at the hospital and will serve as coordinator of the new center, while Dempsey also plans to take part in the center's public education campaign about cancer prevention and detection.
The actor said he worked out plans for his involvement with the center during the recent writers' strike, which shut down production on his hit ABC medical drama. Now that the strike has over, however, he said he's pleased to be back on the set.
"I'm just happy to be working, and I think after having some success early in my career and then having to really work at it, I appreciate it more now," he said.