Mercy Medical Center opened its newest health care facility today in northeast Canton, Ohio, in a former convent on the site of St. Paul’s Catholic Church, which closed in 2011 when it merged with another parish. Mercy Primary Care at St. Paul Square provides family medicine and dental services to a medically underserved area. In addition, Community Services of Stark County, Inc. will be offering behavioral health services at the new facility. “After listening to the people express their needs and working in collaboration with various community agencies and organizations, we determined that bringing comprehensive care to this neighborhood was simply the right thing to do,” said Sister Carolyn Capuano, HM, vice president of Mission and Ministry at Mercy Medical Center. Canton’s northeast area is home to more than a quarter of the city’s population, yet it previously had no health care providers. The Canton Repository ran an article on November 3 about the new facility and the impact it will have on health care in the community, and how it helps fill a void left after the church closed. Mercy also believes its new facility will provide quality, convenient health care services to employees at organizations in the surrounding community. Programs will be instituted to support healthy living, prevention, early detection, treatment and navigation through the system of care. “The establishment of Mercy Primary Care at St. Paul Square allows us to provide accessible and affordable health services to this community and further carry out the hospital’s longstanding mission,” said Thomas E. Cecconi, president and CEO at Mercy Medical Center. Mercy Medical Center at St. Paul Square is based on the characteristics and principles of a medical home model. The medical home model is a best practice approach to address the health care needs of urban communities and is recognized for promoting health equity and increasing health care access.

Mercy Medical Center named Lito Espinosa, a registered nurse in the intensive care unit (ICU), Mercy’s Star Performer employee for September. The Star Performer program is the hospital’s employee recognition and rewards program. Hospital employees, volunteers and staff are nominated each month for demonstrating outstanding performance, being a team player, going above and beyond, being creative and innovative, and championing service excellence. Espinosa was nominated for showing extreme compassion and caring for his patients and their family members, including those patients with life-threatening situations.  Co-workers in Mercy’s ICU are very impressed with his dedication and exemplary patient care. Espinosa was presented the award by Mercy President and CEO Thomas E. Cecconi, ICU Clinical Nurse Manager Christina Ashcraft and Human Resources Manager Charity Davis. Mercy Medical Center is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System. Pictured left to right are: Thomas E. Cecconi, president and CEO of Mercy Medical Center, Christina Ashcraft, clinical nurse manager, Lito Espinosa and Charity Davis, human resources manager.

Regina Health Center, a high-quality provider of compassionate and holistic health care services for religious and lay people needing short-term rehabilitation, assisted living, respite care or residential nursing care, has appointed Judge Kenneth A. Rocco and Joseph C. Maurer, CPA, to its board of directors. [More]

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]

Building Healthy Communities hosts free four-week cooking classes for children, teens and moms in Cleveland’s Central and Kinsman neighborhoods to teach healthy eating habits, and how to prepare healthy meals and snacks. Twenty children recently completed Jr. Chef classes taught by Sharon Glaspie, director of Building Healthy Communities, at the new CornUcopia Place kitchen in Cleveland’s Kinsman neighborhood. The Jr. Chef classes, which Glaspie taught with the help of three members of the Garden Boyz, featured lessons on whole grains and high antioxidant foods. Jr. Chef students learned how to make muffins, pumpkin smoothies, turkey burgers and Halloween apple teeth using high antioxidant Red Delicious apples. “It’s important to reach children at an early age because healthy eating habits learned early in life help form the basis for developing a healthy adult lifestyle,” said Glaspie. Mom Chef classes begin Tuesday, November 6 at CornUcopia Place, where Glaspie will teach mothers how to prepare healthy meals that their children will enjoy. The free classes will run for four weeks every Tuesday from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Contact Julia DiBaggio at 216-341-1455 to reserve a spot in the class or for more information. CornUcopia Place is a community space providing nutrition education, cooking demonstrations, an open event space to be shared with the neighborhood, and a harvest preparation facility for use by local market gardeners. Jr. Chef, Teen Chef and Mom Chef classes are also held on Mondays at Arbor Park Village in Cleveland’s Central neighborhood. Building Healthy Communities is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System. Pictured are participants in a recent Jr. Chef class, learning to make healthy whole grain muffins.

Promise Ambassador and founder of Men & Women of Central Jerome Baker was recently honored as a Most Treasured Volunteer by The Center for Community Solutions. Promise Ambassador Lillie Hunter received a commendation from the center. The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland nominated the two for their outstanding and unselfish work in Cleveland's Central Neighborhood. Jerome became acutely aware of the lack of adult role models for the youth in his neighborhood a few years ago, so he founded Men of Central, which helps African American men in Cleveland’s Central neighborhood to mentor children ages 8 to 14. Based on its success, he helped create Women of Central last year to help the community’s young girls. He also became a “Promise Ambassador” for the Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood initiative to provide strong systems of family and community supports that help children through their school years. For his volunteer work in Cleveland’s health and social services community, the Center for Community Solutions named Jerome one of five Most Treasured Volunteers in Northeast Ohio, presenting him with an award at a ceremony October 19. (Jerome is on the far right in the photo.) In the program for the award ceremony, the Center for Community Solutions noted, “Jerome is a humble Man of Central…and a most worthy Most Treasured Volunteer.” Anne Pombier, vice chair of the center’s board of directors, presented the awards. She said, “As we considered nominations for this year’s award, we were so impressed by the many volunteer activities taking place in our community. Daily we hear about our region’s problems; today we honor and thank people who are creating solutions by giving of their time, talent, and treasure—by giving of themselves.” The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland, which is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System, is the lead partner among many collaborators in the Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood initiative.

Nearly 1,000 friends and supporters of St. Vincent Charity Medical Center enjoyed the Pizzazz 2012 Gala October 13 at Cleveland Public Hall in downtown Cleveland. Pizzazz is the signature fundraising event supporting the mission of St. Vincent Charity Medical Center. This year’s event is expected to generate more than $675,000. In addition to dinner, a live auction and dancing to the music of the Jerry Bruno orchestra, St. Vincent Charity Medical Center presented the St. Vincent de Paul Award to Jack and Mary Jane Breen (pictured to the right) and PNC Bank at the event. The honorees were recognized for their steadfast commitment to and unwavering embrace of the values exemplified by Catholic social teaching. The award is given in honor of St. Vincent de Paul, the patron saint of St. Vincent Charity Medical Center who embodied the spirit of true charity. It is given to a community leader and a corporate organization that exemplify the spirit of St. Vincent through servant leadership, friendship, counsel and community involvement toward the greater good of the Cleveland community. “It is through the generous support of individuals such as Jack and Mary Jane Breen and organizations such as PNC Bank that St. Vincent Charity can continue meeting the needs of the community,” said David F. Perse, M.D., president and CEO of St. Vincent Charity. “They truly embody the spirit and teachings of St. Vincent de Paul and their leadership serves as a great example for others.” The St. Vincent de Paul Award was presented by Sister Judith Ann Karam, CSA, president and CEO of the Sisters of Charity Health System, and Christopher M. Connor, chairman and CEO of Sherwin-Williams and chairman of the event. Proceeds from the gala support St. Vincent Charity Medical Center’s ongoing commitment to provide clinically excellent and compassionate care to all. St. Vincent Charity Medical Center is a ministry of the Sisters of Charity Health System. To see more photos from the event, click here.

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]

The Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Cleveland concluded its yearlong 100th anniversary celebration with an awards dinner on September 29 in Cleveland where it recognized the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine and several individuals as its first members of the Hall of Hope. Catholic Charities of Cleveland recognized the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine for being “a cornerstone and driving inspiration of Catholic Charities. First coming from France in 1851 to establish a hospital to serve everyone in Cleveland, those efforts lead to St. Vincent Charity Hospital as we know it today.” More than 500 people attended the awards dinner and heard keynote speaker, Senator George Voinovich (retired), discuss the great service Catholic Charities has brought to all of Ohio. Cleveland Bishop Richard Lennon traced the long history of Catholic Charities through the efforts of the many bishops during the past 100 years. Catholic Charities of Cleveland is the largest Catholic Charities system in the world. The Sisters of Charity Health System was established in 1982 as the parent corporation for the sponsored ministries of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine in Ohio and South Carolina.