Mercy Quick Facts

• Earned the Excellence in Patient Experience Award as the top large health system in the country for patient experience, a distinction made by NRC Health, a leader in building personalized health care solutions and data-driven insights.
• Named one of America’s most innovative companies by Fortune magazine.
• Recognized as one of the nation’s “Most Wired” for the 19^th time by the College of Healthcare Information Management Executives.
• One of the top 10 most successful Accountable Care Organizations in the country, improving the health of Medicare patients and saving the government $61 million in FY20 alone.
• Recognized by health care supply chain leader Global Healthcare Exchange (GHX) as a “Best 50” health care provider for supply chain excellence.
• Received A grade for billing ethics from The Leapfrog Group, an independent national health care watchdog organization, and Money magazine.
• Named one of America’s Best Employers for New Grads by Forbes magazine.
• Ranked one of the 25 largest U.S. health systems, as well as the sixth largest Catholic system, in the nation.
• Signed first-of-its-kind training affiliation agreement with the U.S. Air Force Reserve Command to give Air Force medical reservists access to vital training at 12 Mercy hospitals.
• Chosen by Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to pioneer projects that will more quickly move research results into clinical care so patients will benefit sooner.
• First in the U.S. to expand family medicine residency program with an optional extra year focused on obesity

The Sisters of Mercy were founded by Catherine McAuley, a Catholic woman, almost 200 years ago in the bleakest of societies, Dublin, Ireland. Women didn't have equal citizenship with men, a voice in government or the right to vote, and religious strife was common among Catholics and Protestants.

Key Historical Facts

• The first House of Mercy opens in 1827 in Dublin, Ireland.
• The Sisters of Mercy were among one of the world's first religious orders not to be cloistered - confined to prayer and quietness within a convent. Instead, the Sisters went out into the communities where they lived to feed the hungry, care for the sick and provide education. They were lovingly named the "Walking Sisters" because of this unique attribute.
• The Sisters of Mercy take a fourth vow of service to the poor, sick and uneducated, in addition to the traditional three vows of all religious orders: chastity, poverty and obedience.
• During the Crimean War, in the mid 1800s, the Sisters of Mercy worked alongside Florence Nightingale. Mercy's nursing model today was influenced by Nightingale and the care she provided alongside the Sisters of Mercy.
• The first Mercy hospital in the world opened in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1857.
• In the late 1800s, the Sisters of Mercy in St. Louis worked with United Railways Company to offer its employees the first pre-paid health insurance in the country. Around the same time, the Sisters of Mercy in Joplin, Missouri, did something similar by offering care to miners for as little as 25 cents a week.
• By the late 1800s, the Sisters of Mercy founded more schools than any other religious order in the English-speaking world.
• The Central Bank of Ireland honored Mercy founder Catherine McAuley for her impact on Irish culture by putting her picture on a £5 note.
• Many of the thriving hospitals built by the Sisters of Mercy began in unexpected places thanks to their foresight of how the population would shift - Mercy Hospital St. Louis was once an apple orchard and Mercy Hospital Oklahoma City was built on a cow pasture.
• The Sisters of Mercy are currently seeking sainthood through the Roman Catholic Church for founder Catherine McAuley. She has already passed the first of three steps and has been declared venerable.
• Sisters of Mercy Health System, which was formed in 1986, transitions in 2011 to one name - Mercy - across four states.

• A 10-year collaborative agreement between Mercy and Mayo Clinic — a first-of-its-kind alliance between two large health care systems — will use data science to pinpoint diseases earlier and transform health care to a more predictive, proactive, preventive and wellness care-focused model.
• An app and on-demand platform, Mercy Works on Demand enables nurses to pick up extra shifts. This includes Mercy’s full and part-time nurses, as well as other experienced nurses who want to pick up extra hospital shifts at Mercy when available.
• From critically ill patients in the hospital to chronically ill patients at home, Mercy virtually monitors patients 24/7/365 using high-speed data and video connections and medically intervenes when and where patients need it with a comprehensive team approach.
• Among the first health care systems in the U.S. to have a comprehensive, fully integrated electronic health record that provides real-time, paperless access to patient information and a record that follows each patient regardless of where they seek care at Mercy.
• MyMercy, a free service, allows patients to connect online with their doctors, plus see medical information, view test results, renew prescriptions, pay bills and schedule appointments and e-visits using a personal computer, tablet or smartphone.
• The Mercy Center for Precision Medicine offers advanced genetic testing, including the new GRAIL multi-cancer early detection blood test that can identify more than 50 different types of cancers.
• The Mercy Center for Performance Medicine and Specialty Care, one of the largest ambulatory surgery centers in the country, advances the consumer experience in health care, serving as a model for future Mercy facilities.
• Innovative TUG robots assist co-workers with pharmacy, linen, meal and other deliveries, freeing up time for more patient care.