Mercy Hospital (Iowa)


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

Mercy Hospital is a private not-for-profit Roman Catholic hospital located in Iowa City, Iowa. It is one of three hospitals in the city - the others being the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics and the Iowa City VA Medical Center. The hospital is located at 500 E. Market Street. Mercy Hospital is affiliated with the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Regional Province of Chicago.

History
Mercy Hospital traces its history to 1873 when the Superior of the Davenport house of the Sisters of Mercy entered into an agreement with the University of Iowa to operate a small hospital in the community. At the request of Davenport, Iowa physician Washington Freeman Peck the Superior sent a group of nuns to Iowa City to help staff the hospital. Dr. Peck and other physicians raised $5,000 to renovate a vacant school building known as Mechanics Academy into a 20 bed hospital. This arrangement lasted until 1885, when the Sisters moved to a nearby vacant mission. In 1886, the sisters established Mercy Hospital as an independent hospital.