Mercy Medical Center - Dubuque


 * See Mercy Hospital for other medical facilities with the Mercy name.

Mercy Medical Center - Dubuque is a medical facility located in Dubuque, Iowa. It is one of two hospitals located in the city - the other being Finley Hospital. The hospital is part of the Trinity Health System. The hospital is based primarily in Dubuque, with a small satellite facility in Dyersville, Iowa.

The hospital 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, and is accredited by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Mercy has 263 beds in the Dubuque location, along with another 89 beds at the Dyersville location. The hospital is designated by the state of Illinois as a resource hospital for the educational needs of Illinois based emergency services.

Mercy is recognized in the area for its emergency room. The trauma center is staffed by doctors who are board certified in emergency medicine. The hospital's ER has been designated by the state of Illinois as a level II trauma center and as a recognized pediatric emergency department. The ER was recently refurbished and expanded. Improvements included building an enclosed ambulance bay so that patients could be transferred from the ambulance 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 October of 2005 a new cardiac wing was opened at the hospital. This new heart unit is used for both inpatient and outpatient procedures.

History
Mercy Medical Center traces its history back to when then Bishop John Hennessy asked the Sisters of Mercy to establish a hospital in Dubuque. The Sisters established St. Joseph's Mercy Hospital 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, 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 1892. The main hospital was expanded in 1905. Then in 1947 another large 200 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. Currently, a new expanded cardiac unit is being added to the hospital.

The Sisters began a nursing education program at Mercy, and the first class graduated in 1902.

In 1976 the hospital became part of the Farmington Hills, Michigan 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 - 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, and became part of the Trinity Health system when Mercy Health Services and Holy Cross Health System combined operations to become Trinity Health in 2000.

External link

 * Mercy Medical Center-Dubuque Website