After months of planning and getting a greenlight from state regulators, Springfield’s “Mercy Medical Center” is now “Baystate Mercy Hospital.”
Earlier this year, Baystate Health stepped in to acquire the campus off Carew Street and much of Mercy’s assets – after it became clear the hospital with Catholic roots was in dire straits.
“We need to grow the campus - two campuses six blocks apart from one another,” said Baystate CEO Peter Banko Monday. “We've been competitors since [right after] the Civil War - now's the time to collaborate and work together for the community.”
Banko was upbeat, but frank as he discussed what comes next for the newly-minted “Baystate Mercy Hospital” and its 189 beds – only a stone’s throw from his organization’s substantially larger main hospital, Baystate Medical Center.
The not-for-profit healthcare system CEO spoke before a crowd of healthcare workers and local leaders Monday – all gathered in front of Mercy’s main entrance and its new Baystate banners.
All the while, contractors were still covering some old signage in the hospital’s parking lot that morning, blotting out evidence of Mercy’s previous branding and owners, Trinity Health.
Also relatively new to the campus – Baystate Mercy’s President and COO, Andrew Ritz.
“This is the beginning of a new chapter for Baystate Mercy Hospital and it builds on Mercy's generations-long legacy of care in the Springfield community and the surrounding communities of Western Massachusetts,” said Ritz, who previously served as Chief of Staff and Vice President of System Integration at Baystate Health. “Baystate Mercy Hospital is now part of Baystate Health's connected, integrated health system, but it's just [an] extension of the legacy that's been ongoing for over 150 years, that the Sisters of Providence began.”
Monday’s ceremony came months after it was announced that, in the face of financial and industry challenges, Trinity Health had agreed to transition Mercy and many of its assets to Baystate.
Since 2015, Mercy had been part of “Trinity Health of New England,” a branch of a larger, faith-based healthcare system operating across almost half of the country.
Even before that move, Mercy had been a staple in the City of Homes, operating an emergency room, the Sister Caritas Cancer Center and maternity center services slightly closer to the city’s downtown compared to BMC.
But, as Trinity itself acknowledged in April, Mercy had been facing mounting financial strain and other issues that called its long-term viability into question. So much so that even its maternity services were suspended late-last year.
As Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno told WAMC Monday – the city losing Mercy was a real possibility, but not an option.
“We traded many, many phone calls [and] many, many meetings - we met a number of times to set up the logistics,” said Sarno, referring to how the city played the role of broker earlier in the acquisition process. “I made it imperative to everyone, the powers that I spoke to [that] there is no way that Springfield … goes without two well-respected quality hospitals [in] it.”
Now in full-remission, Sarno noted that when he was initially diagnosed with cancer two years ago, he was first treated at the Sister Caritas Cancer Center.
As of Nov. 1, the official transition day - from Mercy Medical to Baystate Mercy - no major staff cuts had been announced.
The Mercy system is said to be home to just over 1,300 healthcare workers and administrators - and a network of over 300 providers and an additional 379 “affiliated providers,” according to a Baystate Health fact sheet.
The hospital’s staff have now been folded into Baystate’s headcount, now believed to be around 15,000 Banko says, further solidifying Baystate as the region’s largest employer.
The CEO added that for now, resources are being focused on rejuvenating the Mercy campus and bringing patient levels back to where they once were.
“[Mercy] used to have an 80,000-visit ER - It's 45,000 today. It'll be 80,000 again. No pressure, Andrew,” he said, turning to Ritz. “We've got 100 empty acute care beds, we've got 45 empty rehab beds. We need 100 more rehab beds in our community. We need those beds to be full. We need this campus to be thriving. We need to be all ‘A's’ and all five-stars with quality service and patient experience - without question - everywhere.”
What exactly Baystate Health paid for the acquisition remains confidential, a spokesperson for the healthcare provider tells WAMC. Both the spokesperson and Banko say a $293 million figure some outlets attached to the transaction was false – and was, instead, a valuation of Mercy from state regulators.
Banko says the actual figure was a “fraction” of that. On top of that, state lawmakers are also looking to cover some of the costs via a measure in an upcoming supplemental budget bill – including at least $10 million in the House version.
Regardless, speaking with WAMC as she departed Monday’s event, Sister Kathleen Popko, president of the Sisters of Providence, said she still has mixed feelings about what the hospital has faced in recent years. However, gratitude over the acquisition working out seemed to win out.
The hospital and its facilities across the region initially started as a “House of Mercy” founded by the Sisters of Providence some 150 years ago. It’s expansion was made possible, in-part, by the countless doctors, nurses and professionals who have filled it over the years, Popko says.
“I think people are attracted to being part of a caring community and Mercy became known as a caring community that also focused on excellence in quality of care,” she said, noting that, even as news of the acquisition arrived, the hospital continued to earn high marks. “The spirit lives on here, despite the financial difficulties, and I think it's that spirit of caring and of taking care of all those who come in in need… that people are welcome, and hospitality is key and compassionate care is central.”
