Mercy, PCMH begin partnership

A new era has begun for healthcare in Perry County.
Effective Oct. 1, Perry County Memorial Hospital (PCMH) and Perry County Health System (PCHS) are operating as Mercy Hospital Perry under a lease agreement between Mercy and Perry County. Mercy Hospital Perry is the 17th critical access hospital operated by Mercy through lease agreements or ownership.
“For many years, our community hospital has been a beacon of hope and healing, providing compassionate care to our friends, neighbors and families,” said Patrick Naeger, chair of the PCMH board of trustees. “We have witnessed countless miracles, shared both joyous and challenging moments and grown together as a health care family. Today, we mark the beginning of a new chapter in our journey, one that promises to elevate our standards of care and make us even more integral to the lives of those we serve. The decision to integrate was not taken lightly. We recognize that change can be daunting, but it can also be the catalyst for innovation and progress. With Mercy, we are opening doors to a world of possibilities in exceptional health care services.”
The changeover was celebrated Sept. 29 with a blessing and ribbon cutting ceremony at the hospital. Bishop Mark Rivituso of the Archdiocese of St. Louis blessed the space while co-workers and a large crowd gathered.
“This is an exciting moment for both our organizations,” said Chris Wibbenmeyer, who served as PCHS CEO and continues to lead Mercy Hospital Perry as administrator. “We have always been committed to providing the highest quality care to our patients and their families. Today, we are uniting our strengths to continue this mission even more effectively.”
The transition includes the installation of a new electronic health record system through Epic. This state-of-the-art system provides one medical record available to all Mercy health care providers. It also offers patients online appointment scheduling, access to their records, contact with their physicians, online bill payment and more through the MyMercy patient portal and the MyMercy app. The addition of Epic is a $6.5 million investment in Perry County by Mercy, with future investments to follow.
Mercy intends to retain all current PCHS employees, who will become Mercy co-workers, an important stabilizing factor given the staffing challenges facing many industries including health care. Physicians employed by PCHS will be invited to join Mercy Clinic. Additionally, Mercy and the PCMH Board of Trustees agreed all co-workers who remain in good standing will maintain their positions for a minimum of 18 months
“We’re confident Mercy Hospital Perry is well positioned as the newest member of Mercy,” said Mercy president and CEO Steve Mackin. “We welcome our newest co-workers and look forward to building on the strong foundation of health care service they established in Perry County. The community they serve has always looked to their work as a beacon of hope and healing. Mercy will allow them to further advance that work and serve more patients in Perry County by providing increased access to innovative and personalized care.”

The change has been met with displeasure from some Perry County residents in the months leading up to the event as they did not welcome a bigger entity taking over their local hospital, as well as issues regarding perceived transparency.
The deal was finalized in March 2023 with approval by the board of trustees. The chairman of the board of trustees at the time, Greg Unger, said in March that “Mercy has been really good to work with and will be a great partner with our long-term future in mind. Perry County will benefit from this partnership for years to come.”
Wibbenmeyer understands that the process and project is a hot button issue with members of Perryville and Perry County, but assures that he only has the community in mind.
“Why would I advocate for something that would hurt our community?” Wibbenmeyer said in March. “This is where my parents, siblings, and other family lives if it were harmful to the community.”
Mercy should help PCMH in several areas, including growth which he mentioned before, but others as well.
“It’s costly to grow and I think that’s going to be where we want to take advantage of some of things,” Wibbenmeyer said. “Mercy has more buying power and better negotiating strength. Mercy’s motto is to provide low-cost, quality care that is close to home. They have 16 other critical access hospitals, which is almost unheard of, and never closed one of them. It’s not that we don’t have experience in that, but they have 16 and approximately 40 other hospitals, so they have the scale to do it in an efficient way.
Mercy has also entered into an agreement with SoutheastHEALTH in January to join the health system as a full member. The letter of intent culminated a search process involving the SoutheastHEALTH selection committee, Southeast Hospital board of directors and SoutheastHEALTH System board of directors.
Wibbenmeyer is excited about the union with Mercy.
“We’re excited about this transition, but it is a lot of change all at once for our patients and our co-workers,” Wibbenmeyer said. “I know everyone would appreciate some extra patience during the transition as we all adjust.”