Sisters of Charity Health System and Cleveland Clinic Reach Agreement for Mercy Medical Center to Become a Full Member of Cleveland Clinic

Wednesday, December 09, 2020

Tags: Mercy Medical Center , Sisters of Charity Health System , Sister Judith Ann Karam , Tom Strauss

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The agreement is expected to be finalized February 1, 2021

CLEVELAND – December 8, 2020 – The Sisters of Charity Health System and Cleveland Clinic have signed an agreement for Mercy Medical Center to become a full member of the Cleveland Clinic health system. Mercy Medical Center will maintain its Catholic identity through sponsorship by the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine. The transaction, which follows a letter of intent signed Sept. 27, 2019, is expected to close on Feb. 1, 2021, subject to regulatory approval.

All services at Mercy Medical Center, including COVID-19 response, will continue without interruption throughout the regulatory approval process.

“Mercy and its caregivers, physicians and volunteers have been valiant leaders providing remarkable care to the individuals, families and communities of Stark County for over a century and especially now during the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Sister Judith Ann Karam, CSA, congregational leader of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine. “Mercy, as it has been since its founding in 1908, will continue to be a treasured ministry of the Sisters of Charity.”

Mercy Medical Center is 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 2,700 people. U.S. News & World Report ranks Mercy Medical Center as 17th on its list of Ohio’s best hospitals.

This agreement brings many benefits including expanding high-quality services while maintaining Mercy Medical Center’s Catholic identity; improving technology at Mercy Medical Center; providing support and investment to address additional needs in the community; building physician synergies; and increasing the ease of access to the most highly specialized services for patients in Stark County.

“We know how important Mercy Medical Center is to the people of Stark County and the surrounding area and we look forward to strengthening that bond,” said Tom Mihaljevic, M.D., CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic. “At Cleveland Clinic we are dedicated to making all of our hospitals the best place to receive care. Together, Cleveland Clinic and Mercy Medical Center will continue to serve patients and communities with the highest quality, compassionate care.”

The agreement has met requirements of the Vatican and the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown.

“The mission, values and philosophy of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine are truly engrained into every member of the Mercy family,” said Thomas J. Strauss, president and CEO of the Sisters of Charity Health System and interim CEO of Mercy Medical Center. “We are excited for this partnership that will help Mercy strengthen its services to the community; provide expanded options for clinical services and support important growth initiatives that will provide for the long-term sustainability of Catholic health care in Canton.”

Cleveland Clinic currently operates 11 regional hospitals in Cuyahoga, Lorain, Medina, Summit and Tuscarawas counties. Mercy Medical Center will be the second Catholic-affiliated hospital to join the Cleveland Clinic health system. Marymount Hospital in Garfield Hts., Ohio, was the first in the Cleveland Clinic health system.

About Cleveland Clinic

Cleveland Clinic is a nonprofit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, it was founded in 1921 by four renowned physicians with a vision of providing outstanding patient care based upon the principles of cooperation, compassion and innovation. Cleveland Clinic has pioneered many medical breakthroughs, including coronary artery bypass surgery and the first face transplant in the United States. U.S. News & World Report consistently names Cleveland Clinic as one of the nation’s best hospitals in its annual “America’s Best Hospitals” survey. Among Cleveland Clinic’s 67,554 employees worldwide are more than 4,520 salaried physicians and researchers, and 17,000 registered nurses and advanced practice providers, representing 140 medical specialties and subspecialties. Cleveland Clinic is a 6,026-bed health system that includes a 165-acre main campus near downtown Cleveland, 18 hospitals, more than 220 outpatient facilities, and locations in southeast Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada; Toronto, Canada; Abu Dhabi, UAE; and London, England. In 2019, there were 9.8 million total outpatient visits, 309,000 hospital admissions and observations, and 255,000 surgical cases throughout Cleveland Clinic’s health system. Patients came for treatment from every state and 185 countries. Visit us at clevelandclinic.org. Follow us at twitter.com/CCforMedia and twitter.com/ClevelandClinic. News and resources available at newsroom.clevelandclinic.org.

About Mercy Medical Center

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 2,700 people. Mercy operates outpatient health centers in Alliance, Carroll County, Jackson Township, Lake Township, Louisville, Massillon, 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.

About Sisters of Charity Health System

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. The Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine is a congregation of women religious that, since founding in 1851, continues a faith-based legacy of high-quality, compassionate care in partnership with its co-ministers, who are the heart and hands of the ministry.

The Sisters of Charity Health System solely owns two Catholic hospitals: St. Vincent Charity Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio; and Mercy Medical Center in Canton, Ohio. The health system also oversees three grantmaking foundations located in Cleveland, Canton and Columbia, South Carolina. Each foundation sponsors significant community initiatives and collaborations that address causes and consequences of poverty. Outreach organizations include Joseph’s Home, a unique residential care center for homeless men in Cleveland; Early Childhood Resource Center for people working in childcare in all settings in Canton; Healthy Learners, a health care resource for children from low-income families in South Carolina; and the South Carolina Center for Fathers and Families, a state-wide organization supporting initiatives to reengage fathers in the lives of their children. The Sisters of Charity Health System also provides residential elder care services at Regina Health Center in Richfield, Ohio, and Light of Hearts Vila in Bedford, Ohio. More information at sistersofcharityhealth.org.

Media Contacts: 

• Rebecca Gallant, Sisters of Charity Health System, 216-288-0239, rgallant@sistetsofcharityhealth.org 
• Cindy Hickey, Mercy Medical Center, 330-284-8489, cindy.hickey@cantonmercy.org
• Joe Milicia, Cleveland Clinic, 330-801-1204, milicij@ccf.org