With a police officer stationed at every stoplight, people driving down G Street in Merced on Sunday saw a river of ambulances trundling from one end of town to the other.
Those ambulances, each with a patient aboard, made more than 120 trips from the only hospital that Merced has known for the past few years to Mercy Medical Center's new facility on North G Street that opened Sunday at 6 a.m. A total of 125 patients were moved between 7 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
Marisela Bettancourt of Merced was one of those patients. On Saturday, she shared a room with another patient at the old hospital on 13th Street, and was looking forward to being moved to the new hospital on Sunday.
"I never thought I would experience going to a new hospital," Bettancourt said. "I'm excited to be part of it."
On Sunday, Bettancourt got a ride in a Riggs ambulance to the new hospital. Met by staff members as soon as she was taken out of the ambulance, Bettancourt was taken to the sixth floor and given a private room.
"What a gorgeous view," Bettancourt said, looking out the window at windswept grass next to the hospital.
Mercy's new hospital, a seven-story, $260 million building with private rooms and state-of-the-art technology, opened right on time Sunday. The old hospital closed its emergency room doors at 6 a.m., and the new hospital saw its first patients come in at 6 a.m.
Richard Howard of Atwater was the first patient to come to Mercy's new emergency room on Sunday morning. The 78-year-old and his wife came to the new hospital after Howard's doctor told him he needed to be seen by a physician.
"I didn't think I would be first," Howard said, laying on a bed in a room in the emergency department. "We needed a new hospital. There is no comparison between this one and the old one."
There were a lot of firsts at the new hospital Sunday. The first baby born, Samuel, was born to Fatima Canela at 8:53 a.m. Samuel's grandmother, Lupe Barriga, was the first person to push the button that plays a lullaby throughout the hospital, letting everyone know that a baby was just born.
Jill and Larry Williams' brand new baby, Adam, was also a first Sunday. He was the first baby to be born by C-section.
While Jill cuddled her new son, Dr. Len Perkinson, the doctor who delivered Adam, hustled down the hallway of the second floor labor and delivery area.
With a red, white and blue bandanna on his head, Perkinson said he was ready for the next delivery. "This is fun," he said with a big grin.
As patients came through the front doors of the new hospital, Mercy staff greeted each person. One of those greeters normally wears a suit and tie instead of an official greeter T-shirt.
David Dunham, president of Mercy, looked like the rest of his staff Sunday, wearing a burgundy shirt and a big smile.
"We're so excited to be here," Dunham said. "I told everyone this morning as the sun came up that this is the dawning of a new day of health care in Merced. We are happy to be officially open and ready for business."
Reporter Carol Reiter can be reached at (209) 385-2486 or creiter@mercedsun-star.com.
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