MERCYONE DUBUQUE MEDICAL CENTER

MERCYONE DUBUQUE MEDICAL CENTER. MercyOne (formerly MERCY MEDICAL CENTER and Mercy Health Network) is a system of hospitals, clinics, and health care facilities in Iowa and Nebraska operated under a joint operating agreement between Catholic Health Initiatives and Trinity Health. The name began to be applied to Mercy Medical Center in 2019.

In January, 2019 officials of Mercy and No Foot Too Small, a non-profit organization, announced plans to add a birthing and bereavement suite to provide a private room for parents and their families to grieve for infants who were stillborn or died shortly after birth. The intention was to raise $175,000 for renovations.

Officials of MercyOne and the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics announced in September 2019 negotiations had broken down and that air care by helicopter would no longer be based in Dubuque. The service started in Dubuque in 2016. Although not stationed in Dubuque, local physicians could still call for air services. At the same time PARAMOUNT AMBULANCE announced that it was ready to offer fixed wing air ambulance. The new service in partnership with Physicians Air Transport and Pafford Air Med was to be based at the AIRPORT. (1)

Officials of MercyOne unveiled the medical center's new cancer center with radiation and medical oncology in one site for the first time in Dubuque. The first patients entered the facility on June 1, 2020. Plans for the building had begun in 2018 with years spent getting the necessary state certifications. Connected to the east side of Mercy's medical campus, the two-story, 40,000 square foot structure costing $25 million will also offer patients "spiritual care, palliative care and a pharmacy." (2)

Officials at MercyOne in Dubuque and Dyersville announced in July, 2021 that they would require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. This followed an announcement that Trinity Health would require the same for all of its staff. (3)

Hospital officials announced on February 25, 2022 the start of a $16.4 million renovation to offer more efficient and private services to patients needing X-rays, MRIs, ultrasounds and other procedures. Renovations would include a 3,500-square foot addition to be partly filled with a new MRI machine allowing patients to undergo scans more rapidly. Both nuclear medicine machines, X-ray and fluoroscopy machines and two CT scanners would be replaced with improved speed and imaging capability. One of the first renovated spaces would be a new lobby shared with the lab and radiology departments which would allow for greater patient privacy. Rooms for various procedures would be reconfigured to improve patient flow. (4)

In 2022 Jerry-Jordan Kane became the first graduate of a new, internal surgical technician training program. Aimed at promoting staff into sought-after positions, the program was the result of recent grants to local care providers from Iowa's Employer Innovation Fund. The six-month program allowed students to work as they became certified as surgical techs. MercyOne was one of six Dubuque recipients of the Employer Innovation Fund grants. (5)

Driven by the pandemic, health care providers began offering more virtual health offerings to their patients. MercyOne had telehealth available before COVID and were able to expand the program when people found it convenient. In December, 2022 officials noted that while telehealth visits were down, MercyOne still had about five times the number of those visits statewide than it had before the pandemic. (6)

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Source:

1. "Medical Helicopter to Depart Dubuque Hospital," Telegraph Herald, September 13, 2019, p. 3A

2. Montgomery, Jeff, "MercyOne Unveils New Cancer Center," Telegraph Herald, May 31, 2020, p. 1A

3. "MercyOne Dubuque, Dyersville Hospitals to Require Employee Vaccinations," Telegraph Herald, July 10, 2021, p. 2A

4. Hinga, Allie, "MercyOne Begins $16M Expansion, Telegraph Herald, February 25, 2022, p. 1A

5. Fisher, Benjamin, "Local Health Care Gets Shot in Arm," Telegraph Herald, April 3, 2022, p. 1A

6. Hinga, Allie, "UnityPoint Launches SmartExam Option," Telegraph Herald, December 3, 2022, p. 1A