Dedication to excellence. Devotion to healing. Mercy Medical Center has championed both since the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine opened the hospital September 12, 1908, in Canton, Ohio, in the former home of President William McKinley. Mercy was Stark County’s first and only Catholic hospital, and was open to everyone, rich and poor alike, regardless of religious faith or nationality. A new video highlights Mercy Medical Center’s rich history, starting in 1851 when the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine came to Cleveland from France and then Stark County in 1883, and eventually opening a hospital in 1908 in downtown Canton. It was due to the generosity of Mrs. Rosa Klorer that the Sisters were called to Canton to establish a Catholic hospital. Mrs. Rosa Klorer purchased the McKinley home at Market and 8th Street Northwest in Canton and deeded its use as a hospital. The Sisters converted the McKinley home into an 18-bed hospital named Mercy in honor of Our Lady of Mercy. Mercy eventually expanded three times to meet the needs of a growing community. In 1950, W. Robert and Henry H. Timken gave the Sisters the H.H. Timken residence along with 30 acres of land. Timken Mercy Hospital opened in 1952 as a 68-bed satellite to Mercy Hospital. Building additions in 1953, 1957 and 1970 at Timken Mercy led to the closing of the old Mercy Hospital in 1970, with all services being consolidated at the Timken Mercy campus. The Stark County District Library now stands on the old Mercy Hospital site. Timken Mercy Hospital became Timken Mercy Medical Center in 1979 to reflect its expanded role in community health care beyond traditional hospital services. The video also highlights Mercy’s ongoing mission to continue Christ’s healing ministry by providing quality, compassionate, accessible and affordable care for the whole person, as well as some of the challenges facing Mercy Medical Center and the importance of keeping employees and physicians educated in the traditions and commitments of Catholic health care. Mercy Medical Center is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System. Today, Mercy has 476 beds, 620 members on its medical staff, and employs 2,500 people. Mercy continues to serve as Stark County's only Catholic hospital. To view the video, click on the links above or click here.

Mercy Service League held its 2012 Harvest Ball on Saturday, October 27 in the Canton Memorial Civic Center’s McKinley Room. The event raised nearly $270,000 to benefit Mercy Emergency Department’s renovation and expansion project. [More]

Mercy Service League is holding its 2012 Harvest Ball on Saturday, October 27, to benefit Mercy Medical Center’s emergency department (E.D.) renovation and expansion. [More]

Mercy Medical Center has been named one of the nation’s 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by Truven Health Analytics. The study examined the performance of more than 1,000 hospitals by analyzing outcomes for patients with heart failure and heart attacks, and for those who received coronary bypass surgery and percutaneous coronary interventions such as angioplasties. This is the sixth time that Mercy Medical Center has been recognized with this honor.  This year’s winners were announced October 1 in Modern Healthcare magazine. “To be recognized for the quality of our cardiac care on a national level is really an honor.  We are very proud of the recognition, but we are even more proud that we are able to offer the highest level of cardiac care to patients in our own community,” said Thomas E. Cecconi, president and CEO of Mercy Medical Center. “This recognition is proof of the outstanding efforts put forth by the physicians and staff at Mercy Medical Center as we continue this high level of quality care,” said Ahmed Sabe, MD, medical director, Mercy Heart Center.  “We are pleased to again be nationally recognized for the excellent outcomes in cardiovascular care that are continually achieved by Mercy Heart Center.” “This year’s 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals have proven that a commitment to deliver excellent care is still attainable in times of economic uncertainty,” said Jean Chenoweth, senior vice president for performance improvement and the 100 Top Hospitals® program at Truven Health Analytics. “The hospitals in this study have achieved higher levels of care and efficiency than their peers, demonstrating incredibly strong focus by cardiologists, cardiovascular surgeons, and cardiovascular service administrators and staff on basic care and outcomes.” The study shows that cardiovascular outcomes in U.S. hospitals are improving nationwide. Across all U.S. hospitals, 96 percent of cardiovascular inpatients survive and remain complication-free. Among the 50 Top Hospitals, performance surpasses these high-water marks as indicated by: Better risk-adjusted survival rates (41 percent fewer deaths than expected, compared with 9 percent fewer than expected at peer hospitals) for bypass surgery patients. Lower complications indices (35 percent lower rate of heart failure complications than peers). Fewer patients readmitted to the hospital after 30 days. Shorter hospital stays. The typical winning hospital released their bypass patients a full day sooner, and their heart attack and heart failure patients about three-quarters of a day sooner than their peers. Lower costs. Top hospitals spend $3,500 less per bypass case and $1,000 less per angioplasty than non-winners. The study evaluated general and applicable specialty, short-term, acute care, non-federal U.S. hospitals treating a broad spectrum of cardiology patients. Truven Health Analytics researchers analyzed 2010 and 2011 Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR) data, 2010 Medicare cost reports, and 2012 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Compare data. They scored hospitals in key performance areas: risk-adjusted mortality, risk-adjusted complications, core measures (a group of measures that assess process of care), percentage of coronary bypass patients with internal mammary artery use, 30-day mortality rates, 30-day readmission rates, severity-adjusted average length of stay, and wage- and severity-adjusted average cost. Mercy Medical Center has a history of pioneering excellence in heart care. Nationally recognized as a heart care leader, the impressive lists of “Firsts” include the world’s first angioplasty performed in an emergency department, the nation’s first Accredited Chest Pain Center and Stark County’s first Chest Pain Center certified to perform angioplasty 24/7. Mercy Emergency Chest Pain Center is home to a Cardiac Catheterization Lab where door to balloon angioplasty has been performed in less than six minutes. This cath lab allows Mercy to dramatically reduce the time between heart attack and life-saving angioplasty. Mercy has been named a Top 50 Heart Hospital by Truven Health Analytics (formerly Thomson Reuters) six times and was named Best in Stark County for Coronary Angioplasty and Cardiac Surgery in the 2012 HealthGrades Report. Mercy Medical Center, a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System, operates a 476-bed hospital serving Stark, Carroll, Wayne, Holmes and Tuscarawas Counties and parts of Southeastern Ohio. It has 620 members on its Medical Staff and employs 2,500 people. Mercy operates outpatient health centers in Carroll County, Jackson Township, Lake Township, Louisville, North Canton, Plain Township and Tuscarawas County. A Catholic hospital, Mercy Medical Center upholds the mission and philosophy of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine and continues to be responsive to the needs of the community. For more information, see cantonmercy.org. Truven Health Analytics, formerly the Healthcare business of Thomson Reuters, delivers unbiased information, analytic tools, benchmarks, and services to the healthcare industry. Hospitals, government agencies, employers, health plans, clinicians, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies have relied on us for more than 30 years. We combine our deep clinical, financial, and healthcare management expertise with innovative technology platforms and information assets to make healthcare better by collaborating with our customers to uncover and realize opportunities for improving quality, efficiency, and outcomes. With more than 2,000 employees globally, we have major offices in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Chicago; and Denver. Advantage Suite, Micromedex, ActionOI, MarketScan, and 100 Top Hospitals are registered trademarks or trademarks of Truven Health Analytics.

Mercy Medical Center inducted Farouq Ahmed, M.D., Albert T. Domingo, M.S., M.D., and Michael H Linz, M.D., into the Society of St. Luke, Mercy’s physician honor society, during an induction ceremony and dinner held September 27 at Brookside Country Club. [More]

To help prevent the misuse of prescription drugs and address the safety and health hazards of pharmaceutical waste, Mercy Medical Center is partnering with the Stark County Sheriff Department, Canton City Police Department and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to serve as a collection site for a one-day Prescription Drug “Take-Back” initiative on Saturday, September 29. [More]

The accreditation program – sponsored by the American Heart Association and the Society of Chest Pain Centers – recognizes centers that meet or exceed quality of care measures for people experiencing the most severe type of heart attack, ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), in which blood flow is completely blocked to a portion of the heart. Mercy Heart Center underwent numerous on-site reviews by accreditation specialists from the Society of Chest Pain Centers. [More]

Mercy Medical Center has been accredited for a period of three years for its adult hospital inpatient rehabilitation and adult hospital inpatient rehabilitation stroke specialty programs by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF). [More]

Leadership Stark County has elected a new slate of board officers. The board includes two representatives from the ministries of the Sisters of Charity Health System: Barbara Frustaci from Mercy Medical Center and Shana Rozier from Sisters of Charity Foundation of Canton. [More]

Mercy Medical Center Emergency Chest Pain Center has received full, three-year Cycle IV accreditation with PCI (percutaneous coronary interventions), or angioplasty, from the Society of Chest Pain Centers. [More]