Ryan Seacrest opens media center inside Le Bonheur for patients

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WMC) - Patient families at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis were treated to a star-studded celebration this morning at the opening of Seacrest Studios inside the hospital.

The new media center is the brainchild of media mogul Ryan Seacrest, who was on site to kick things off.

Seacrest, a radio host and TV mega-producer, cut the ribbon Wednesday on Seacrest Studios, a state-of-the-art broadcasting facility on the first floor of Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital, his 12th namesake studio to open inside a pediatric care center in the U.S.

”This is a place where the patients can come and have fun, maybe forget why they’re here because some tough stuff happens here,” Seacrest said.

Inside the more than 1,200-foot studio space, patients can host their own radio and television shows, play games, watch performances and welcome celebrity guests like last year’s CMA Song of the Year winner Jordan Davis, who joined Seacrest for the studio’s inaugural broadcast.

”We’re gonna play some music. We’re gonna break it in right,” Davis said.

Memphis Grizzlies’ forward Jaren Jackson Jr. also joined Le Bonheur patients for opening day festivities, and actress and singer Kat Graham was on-site, determined to be there after she says she witnessed first hand the impact Seacrest Studios has had on kids at a hospital near her home in Atlanta.

”Especially because it really empowers them in such a way I could have never expected,” Graham said. “For them to feel like they have some control and they have a voice when they are in such vulnerable circumstances.”

Whether physically in the studio or watching through a closed-circuit network from their rooms, Seacrest hopes the opportunities that happen here will inspire kids at Le Bonheur to think beyond what ails them.

“This is the most important work I do,” Seacrest said.

Two more Seacrest Studios will open later this year in New York and Salt Lake City.

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