Mercy Medical Center - Dubuque
Encyclopedia
Mercy Medical Center - Dubuque is a non-profit medical facility located in Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque is a city in and the county seat of Dubuque County, Iowa, United States, located along the Mississippi River. In 2010 its population was 57,637, making it the ninth-largest city in the state and the county's population was 93,653....

. It is one of two hospitals located in the city - the other being Finley Hospital
Finley Hospital
Finley Hospital is a medical facility operating in Dubuque, Iowa. The hospital is part of the Iowa Health System. It is one of two hospitals operating in the city of Dubuque - the other being Mercy Medical Center...

. The hospital is based primarily in Dubuque, with a critical access hospital in Dyersville, Iowa
Dyersville, Iowa
Dyersville is a city in eastern Delaware and western Dubuque Counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is part of the Dubuque, Iowa, Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 4,035 at the 2000 census and was estimated to be 4,167 in 2006....

.

Mercy - Dubuque is located just to the north of U.S. Highway 20 on Mercy Drive. The hospital is visible from the highway. To reach the hospital from U.S. 20, take the Bryant / Hill Street Exit.

Mercy is licensed by the state of Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, and is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations
The Joint Commission , formerly the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations , is a United States-based not-for-profit organization that accredits over 19,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States...

. The hospital is a member of Mercy Health Network and Trinity Health, of Novi, Michigan. Mercy has 263 beds in the Dubuque location, along with another 25 acute beds and a nursing home at the Dyersville location.

In 2004, Mercy was designated as a Magnet hospital, a national award for nursing. Mercy was re-designated as Magnet in 2009.

Mercy is recognized in the area for its emergency room. The trauma center is staffed by doctors who are all board certified in emergency medicine. The hospital's ER has been designated by the state of Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 as a level II trauma center and as a recognized pediatric emergency department. The ER was recently refurbished and expanded. Improvements included ambulance
Ambulance
An ambulance is a vehicle for transportation of sick or injured people to, from or between places of treatment for an illness or injury, and in some instances will also provide out of hospital medical care to the patient...

 bays so that patients could be transferred from ambulances to the hospital without being exposed to adverse weather. In addition to the Dubuque trauma center, the Dyersville facility also operates an emergency room.

In 2005 a cardiology center was opened at the hospital. This new heart unit is used for both inpatient and outpatient procedures. Mercy moved its Psychiatric Services into a totally renovated area in 2009 and opened the region's only Autism Center in July, 2010.

History

Mercy Medical Center traces its history back to when Bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 John Hennessy
John Hennessy (Archbishop)
-External links:**...

 asked the Sisters of Mercy to establish a hospital in Dubuque. The Sisters established St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital on West Third Street near Bluff Street in Dubuque in 1879. One year later the Sisters acquired the land on which Mercy Hospital is currently located.

In 1885 St. Joseph's Sanitarium was opened on the edge of the city, becoming the first mental health facility in the area. The St. Anthony's Home for the Aged, which was built adjacent to the hospital, was opened in 1912. The main hospital was expanded in 1905. Then in 1947 another large 225 bed addition was built on to the hospital. When built, the new building represented the state of the art in equipment. Further additions and improvements followed, including another wing that was built in the 1970 and an expansion in 1997. Currently, a new ICU and Cardiovascular unit is being developed at the hospital.

The Sisters began the Mercy School of Nursing, and the first class of nurses graduated in 1902. The school was phased out when it merged with the Area One (now Northeast Iowa Community College) nursing program, and the last class graduated in 1975.

In 1976 the hospital became part of the Farmington Hills, Michigan
Farmington Hills, Michigan
Farmington Hills is a community in southeastern Michigan. It is the largest city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Its population was 79,740 at the 2010 census...

 based Mercy Health Services. In 1978 the Dyersville Community Hospital was merged with Mercy Hospital to provide a location in Dyersville. It then became known as Mercy Health Center. Xavier Hospital
Xavier Hospital
Xavier Hospital was a former hospital located in Dubuque, Iowa. It was located in the northern part of the city at the intersection of Windsor Ave and Davis Street. With Finley Hospital and Mercy Hospital Xavier Hospital was one of three hospital facilities in the city of Dubuque.In 1981 the...

- which had operated as a third area hospital - was closed in 1981, and its operations were consolidated into the Mercy Health Center operations. The hospital was renamed to Mercy Medical Center in 1999 when Mercy Health Services and Holy Cross Health System combined operations to become Trinity Health in 2000.
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