What's in a name? Missourians who grew up in the Southeast part of the state will be asking this question, and the new name people will be seeing more of is Mercy.
Mercy Health System and SoutheastHEALTH signed a definitive agreement in August 2023, which aims to strengthen healthcare delivery across Southeast Missouri, 'through increased patient access to high-quality care'.
Southeast Hospital, initially established along with a College of Nursing and later rebranded as SoutheastHEALTH as it expanded its services across the region, has been a healthcare anchor in Cape Girardeau since 1928— so the name change was immediately noticeable.
Signage changes were revealed just after the beginning of January 2024. Most prominent of those changes, was on the outside of the hospital campus on Broadway in Cape Girardeau.
Southeast Hospital in Cape is now operating under the name Mercy Hospital Southeast and Southeast Health Center of Stoddard is now Mercy Hospital Stoddard in Dexter, Missouri.
Ryan Geib, Mercy Southeast Community President talked about the changes, and what to expect.
'What you'll really see, is the Mercy name, what service you're seeking, and then where the location's at— and that's how you'll identify those. But it's still the same familiar faces. Our doctors are the same that you'll be seeing inside those clinic locations", said Geib.
He also talked about the history of Mercy (Health).
"Mercy Health, is a faith-based organization that is headquartered in St. Louis, that has the privilege to serve patients across three states, formed in 1872 by the Sisters of Mercy in Dublin, Ireland", explaining the earliest days of the healthcare operation.
Geib discussed the goals of the new merger aside from the name change, expanding on the broader goal of the healthcare merger, after receiving all necessary third-party regulatory approvals.
"You know, we've made this commitment to make Cape Girardeau a hub for healthcare and to bring cost-effective healthcare to the community—so with that, there's all kinds of enhancements from technology, and new physicians, [and] we want to make sure that the patrons of this area don't have to travel to receive that high-quality, special care that they may have to today", said Geib.
SoutheastHEALTH College of Nursing & Health Sciences also is part of Mercy and the organization says it 'will continue to educate the next generation of nurses and allied health professionals", and is 'keeping its existing name for the time being'.
Mercy has committed to significant investments in Southeast Missouri including switching all of Mercy Southeast facilities to Epic—Mercy's electronic health record system. It will offer patients online appointment scheduling access to the records contact with their physicians, online bill payment, and more through the MyMercy patient portal and the MyMercy app, which will be available in the Apple App Store and Google Play.
The company states these features will be available following the completed transition to Epic, scheduled for Fall 2024.
Epic healthcare software is also used by another regional healthcare provider, St. Francis Healthcare System, under the name MyChart.
According to a Mercy company statement, Ken Bateman is delaying his planned retirement until late 2024. He will continue as Mercy CEO to help lead the transition. He has stepped down from his role as president.
Bateman is working alongside Eric Ammons—Mercy Regional President, and Ryan Geib Mercy Southeast Community President. Geib most recently served as Chief Operating Officer for the Mercy Fort Smith community.
Public celebrations with Mercy's blessing and ribbon cuttings are set for January 11, 2024 at 650, South Mount Auburn Road in Cape Girardeau, and another ribbon cutting is planned later in the day at 3 p.m. at Mercy Hospital Stoddard, located in Dexter, Missouri.
Mercy is one of the 20 largest U.S. health systems, and according to the company profile, has over 900 physician practice locations and outpatient facilities, more than 4,500 physicians and advanced practitioners, and more than 47,000 co-workers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Mercy also operates clinics, outpatient services, and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.
