CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. -- A major hospital in the region has changed names and expanded their approach in the region.
SoutheastHEALTH has officially changed their name. It is now called Mercy Hospital Southeast.
“Being called to serve southeast Missouri is an honor for us,� said Steve Mackin, Mercy president and CEO. “It’s an important opportunity to expand our value-based care approach south along the I-55 corridor to this very key part of the state. Improving patient access, focusing on preventive and proactive care while keeping patients healthy and out of the hospital, is our focus. It enables us to provide lower-cost and higher quality health care in the communities we serve. We’re excited to bring this value-based care approach to a new part of Missouri for Mercy, one that can significantly benefit from it.�
Starting on Wednesday, there will be some changes for the hospital, including their signs as they will be trading them out to the Mercy signage.
The two healthcare systems have been in talks through 2023, and signed an agreement back in August for SoutheastHEALTH to become a member of the Mercy system. The hospital said this agreement “strengthened healthcare delivery across southeast Missouri through increased patient access to high quality care.� a statement read.
“When we talk about moving forward together, we’re talking about the monumental opportunity to transform Cape Girardeau into a regional health care hub,� said Ken Bateman, Mercy Southeast CEO. “Because Mercy is one of the largest and highest rated health care systems in the country, we will have the ability to ensure our community has access to the very best care available.�
The SoutheastHEALTH staff are now co-workers with the staff at Mercy as they are now one healthcare unit.
Southeast Health Center of Stoddard also changed names to Mercy Hospital Stoddard. In addition, the SoutheastHEALTH Foundation is now known as Mercy Health Foundation.
“All donations to the foundation will continue to remain local, just as they always have been, to support patients in southeast Missouri,� a statement read.
Another SoutheastHEALTH facility known as the SoutheastHEALTH College of Nursing & Health Sciences will keep its existing name for the time being, however, it is now also part of Mercy.
“Mercy is excited to have such a great educational resource join the system and help continue meeting the needs for exceptional clinicians in the region and across Missouri,� the statement read.
Mercy has already committed to significant investments in southeast Missouri, including switching all Mercy Southeast facilities to Epic, Mercy’s electronic health record system. This state-of-the-art system provides one medical record available to all Mercy health care providers, ensuring care continuity for all patients Mercy serves. It also offers patients online appointment scheduling, access to their records, contact with their physicians, online bill payment and more through the and the MyMercy app (available in the Apple and .) These features will be available following the transition to Epic scheduled for fall 2024.
“It’s important to the entire region that this transition goes smoothly. We are committed to continuing to provide outstanding care to our patients and to ensuring our co-workers are in the best position possible to make that happen. I am excited to play a part in it all,� Bateman said.
