Mercy Medical Center Merced turns 5

Mercy Medical Center Merced is now old enough to enroll in kindergarten.

The hospital turns 5 on Saturday, and it is celebrating with its annual Stroke Awareness 5K, Family Festival and Health Fair.

The fourth annual event is scheduled to kick off with the run-walk at 8 a.m. and continue through 2 p.m. with family activities and a display of health education booths.

The event is held at the hospital every May in observance of Stroke Awareness Month. It aims to provide the community with information on how to react to strokes, and how to read warning signs and symptoms.

A physical therapist will be at the fair with information on post-stroke rehabilitation. Nurses will conduct stroke assessments including blood pressure and cholesterol checks.

The fair will also include an asthma circuit, pediatric dental screenings, and information on mammograms and bone density tests.

All services and activities, with the exception of the 5K, are free.

The money collected from the run-walk goes to the hospital’s stroke program and is used for education and equipment that help with stroke detection and prevention efforts, according to staff. Last year, the run-walk gathered about 300 participants and raised $6,000.

The event also falls on the hospital’s anniversary.

On May 2, 2010, Mercy Medical Center transferred 125 patients from the old hospital’s location on 13th Street and opened its doors at its current Mercy Avenue location.

During these last five years, the hospital has added new physicians and specialists. According to Bob McLaughlin, a hospital spokesman, the hospital has added a rheumatologist, spine surgeon and a neurologist, among others. The hospital is also in talks with an orthopedic surgeon, who has expressed interest in coming to Merced, McLaughlin said.

Becky Cates, director of the family birth center at Mercy, said the switch to the new facility, for example, brought several changes to the maternity ward.

Cates said that the birth center’s greatest upgrade was in becoming self-contained. The surgical suites for cesarean sections, recovery rooms and family waiting rooms can all be accessed on the second floor. Cates said this was not the case at the old hospital, where women in labor were taken to operation rooms on separate floors.

The push for family centers, Cates said, is an effort to keep children, mothers and their families close to one another and improve the patient experience.

Despite its strong beginning, there are still areas in the birth center where she’d like to see even further improvement, Cates said. Staff is currently working on raising its percentage of exclusive breastfeeding. “But we have already started to see some progress,” she said, noting that the hospital’s latest records show 53 percent of the mothers in the hospital reported exclusively breastfeeding.

The hospital has also seen an improvement in patient safety, according to a national report. A nonprofit organization that grades hospitals on their ability to prevent errors, injuries, accidents and infections recently gave Merced Medical Center an A for the fourth consecutive time. The hospital had received C’s in 2012 and 2013.

“The new hospital gave us a place to excel in quality measures,” said Dr. Robert Streeter, vice president of medical affairs at Mercy. “It’s a continual evolution.”

A big part of the hospital’s ongoing success, according to Lisa Wegley, executive director of the hospital’s foundation, is due to the support it has received from community partners.

Each year, groups and people in the area come together to support the hospital’s gala, which helps fund efforts like stroke and spine programs. For example, with funds raised at the 2013 gala, the hospital bought five simulation mannequins, which are now used by medical professionals for in-house staff training.

The foundation is now looking to raise $400,000 at this year’s gala in the fall for 3-D mammography tools to improve breast cancer screenings.

“This means we would be able to bring state-of-the-art equipment to the community,” Wegley said.

Mercy Medical Center has also attempted to increase its health education efforts.

Lillian Sanchez, a community educator with the hospital, said part of her job is to promote the prevention of chronic diseases through wellness classes. Sanchez said that in the past two years there has been significant expansion when it comes to health education, both inside and outside the hospital.

Mercy Medical Center currently offers a variety of classes including a chronic disease management class, a cancer support group, a diabetes class and a stroke support group.

This story was originally published May 1, 2015 at 7:24 PM with the headline "Mercy Medical Center Merced turns 5."