Caring for a community goes beyond meeting health care needs. It requires supporting the well-being of families so they can thrive. Mercy’s work with the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery to help prevent child abuse and neglect is an important part of meeting those needs.
The collaboration between Mercy and the Crisis Nursery has been so successful, the Crisis Nursery is honoring Mercy with its H.U.G.S. & K.I.S.S.E.S. Health Care Partner of the Year Award, the highest award Crisis Nursery presents.
Crisis Nursery has presented its H.U.G.S. & K.I.S.S.E.S. awards for the last 26 years. The group honors individuals, businesses and organizations that have shown helpfulness, uncommon generosity, sincere kindness, integrity, shining service and extraordinary support.
Mercy hosts three Saint Louis Crisis Nursery family empowerment centers. The first opened at Mercy Hospital Jefferson in Festus, Missouri, in 2017, followed by Mercy Hospital South in St. Louis County in 2018 and the newest center at Mercy Hospital Lincoln in Troy, Missouri.
“It has been such a blessing to have Mercy’s dedication and passion to the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery and our mission of child abuse prevention for all these years,” said DiAnne Mueller, CEO of Saint Louis Crisis Nursery. “Because of Mercy’s commitment to the communities it serves, the Crisis Nursery is positively impacting many more families in the underserved regions of Jefferson County and Lincoln County.”
“Collaborating with the Saint Louis Crisis Nursery is a true win-win situation,” said Eric Ammons, president of Mercy Hospital Jefferson. “We’re able to help reach people in need of these services. We also can easily connect our patients, community members and our own co-workers to the support Crisis Nursery provides. The entire community is better served by us working together.”
Crisis Nursery also receives funds from Mercy Caritas, a program established by Mercy in 1987 to fund health and human services programs that meet unique needs in the various communities Mercy serves. “Caritas” means “charity” in Latin.