Patrick Dempsey will be honored with a cancer center. The TV doctor has made an appearance at the Central Maine Medical Center Tuesday to announce his plans for a new cancer center, which will be named after him.

The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing is set to open on March 31. It is inspired by the 42-year-old actor's mother, Amanda, who is a cancer survivor, Kennebec Journal reports.

Dempsey said that his mother's ovarian cancer and the experience they had in dealing with it had driven his action.

He said, "For a family to get a cancer diagnosis is devastating, and all the information out there can be overwhelming. So I talked to my sister about a place where people could go for all this type of information and help. Knowledge is power."

His sister, who works at the hospital, will run the center.

Dempsey currently stars in the hit TV medical drama "Grey's Anatomy," where he plays neurosurgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd, called by his peers as "Dr. McDreamy."