Forward Together: SoutheastHEALTH Joins Mercy

A sign of changes ahead starts this week with new signage

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., Jan. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- SoutheastHEALTH has joined Mercy after receiving all necessary third-party regulatory approvals. The first noticeable change for patients and the community of these organizations moving forward together starts this week with the placement of new Mercy signage at locations across southeast Missouri.

"Being called to serve southeast Missouri is an honor for us," said Steve Mackin, Mercy president and CEO. "It's an important opportunity to expand our value-based care approach south along the I-55 corridor to this very key part of the state. Improving patient access, focusing on preventive and proactive care while keeping patients healthy and out of the hospital, is our focus. It enables us to provide lower-cost and higher quality health care in the communities we serve. We're excited to bring this value-based care approach to a new part of Missouri for Mercy, one that can significantly benefit from it."

The two health care systems signed a definitive agreement in August for SoutheastHEALTH to become a member of the Mercy system strengthening health care delivery across southeast Missouri through increased patient access to high quality care.

"When we talk about moving forward together, we're talking about the monumental opportunity to transform Cape Girardeau into a regional health care hub," said Ken Bateman, Mercy Southeast CEO. "Because Mercy is one of the largest and highest rated health care systems in the country, we will have the ability to ensure our community has access to the very best care available."

Co-workers with SoutheastHEALTH are now Mercy co-workers. Southeast Hospital in Cape Girardeau is now called Mercy Hospital Southeast, while Southeast Health Center of Stoddard is now Mercy Hospital Stoddard.

Other former SoutheastHEALTH facilities and services have also been renamed, including SoutheastHEALTH Foundation. The foundation is now named Mercy Health Foundation Southeast. All donations to the foundation will continue to remain local, just as they always have been, to support patients in southeast Missouri.

SoutheastHEALTH College of Nursing & Health Sciences also is part of Mercy and will continue to educate the next generation of nurses and allied health professionals. It is keeping its existing name for the time being. Mercy is excited to have such a great educational resource join the system and help continue meeting the needs for exceptional clinicians in the region and across Missouri.

Public celebrations with Mercy's traditional blessing and a ribbon cutting are set for Jan. 11, 2024. The Cape Girardeau event will start at 10 a.m. at 650 S. Mount Auburn Road. Another blessing and ribbon cutting will be held at 3 p.m. at Mercy Hospital Stoddard.

When joining a new community, Mercy hosts roundtables to learn how to best serve the needs of the community and hear how residents envision the future of health care. Those forums will be held in Cape Girardeau and the surrounding region.

"Every community is a reflection of the people who live and work within it. These roundtables help us learn what residents and co-workers value, providing invaluable feedback for how we can continue the Sisters of Mercy's legacy of service. It's a tradition that ensures we keep the community's needs at the heart of all we do," Mackin said.

Mercy has already committed to significant investments in southeast Missouri, including switching all Mercy Southeast facilities to Epic, Mercy's electronic health record system. This state-of-the-art system provides one medical record available to all Mercy health care providers, ensuring care continuity for all patients Mercy serves. It also offers patients online appointment scheduling, access to their records, contact with their physicians, online bill payment and more through the MyMercy patient portal and the MyMercy app (available in the Apple App Store and Google Play.) These features will be available following the transition to Epic scheduled for fall 2024.

"It's important to the entire region that this transition goes smoothly. We are committed to continuing to provide outstanding care to our patients and to ensuring our co-workers are in the best position possible to make that happen. I am excited to play a part in it all," Bateman said.

Bateman is delaying his planned retirement until late 2024, continuing as Mercy Southeast 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, who has been with Mercy for four years, most recently served as chief operating officer for Mercy Fort Smith community.

Mercy, one of the 20 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized quality care and one of the nation's largest Accountable Care Organizations. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state health care system including more than 50 acute care and specialty (heart, children's, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy 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 has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

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SOURCE Mercy